Source: Thailand Medical News Dec 16, 2019 5 years, 1 week, 1 day, 22 hours, 30 minutes ago
Lipsticks are the most important component in a woman’s make-up kit. No make-up kit is complete without one (or a few, considering the different shades and brands). They no doubt add beauty to your pout.
Beauty but at what cost?
Lipsticks come with some unavoidable side-effects to one's
health, thanks to its manufacturing materials. Women wear
lipstick when they leave home and continue wearing it all day long sometimes even to bed.
Most
lipsticks contain lead, which is extremely harmful and causes irreversible health damage. They cause allergy, irritation, and chapping on the lips and the surrounding skin. Certain harmful chemicals and heavy metals in lipsticks can also cause
cancer.
Here are some harmful side-effects of using lipsticks regularly.
Bisphenol-A (BPA) in lipstick containers causes infertility and cancer
Almost 95% of
lipstick containers including those claiming to be organic and chemical free were found to contain BPA and the chemical very easily seeps into the actual lipstick which is applied on the lips. BPA is an endocrine disruptor that has been found to cause fertility issues, birth defects, cancer and it can affect males who get kissed by users of the
lipstick, what we call as a “castrated kiss” as the affected male will end up getting the BPA into his bloodstream which will then affect his own fertility and reproductive organs.
The female gamete seems to be especially sensitive to BPA exposure and it has been linked with an increased risk of breast cancer and to the contribution of Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), as PCOS patients were found to have had elevated BPA levels in a cross-sectional study of 71 women.
Heavy metals in lipsticks cause renal failure and stomach tumors
Lipsticks contain harmful heavy metals like cadmium, magnesium and chromium. All these metals can cause dangerous diseases and organ damage. Extremely high amounts of cadmium can increase the risk of renal failure. Frequent application of
lipstick can cause severe stomach tumours.
Lead is harmful to the nervous system
Lead is a common constituent in most
lipsticks. Lead is a neurotoxin that has a harmful effect on the nervous system. It can also cause brain damage, hormonal imbalance and infertility.
Petrochemicals may affect the growth and brain development
Many
lipsticks have petrochemicals as a common ingredient, which have harmful side-effects. Petrochemicals are a by-product of crude oil and natural gas. It can cause endocrine disruption that works as an obstacle for growth, development, reproduction, and intelligence.
Preservatives used in lipstick cause cancer
The preservatives used in
lipsticks are formaldehyde and parabens that are known carci
nogens.
Lipsticks that utilize these preservatives cause irritation of the eyes, coughing, wheezing and irritation on skin. The mineral oils used in
lipsticks block the skin pores and are responsible for many permanent harmful effects.
Chemicals in lipstick harm the body
Though bismuth oxychloride is a chemical used to preserve the
lipstick, it is extremely harmful for the body. The harmful effect of
lipsticks is due to the carcinogenic property of this ingredient. The propylparabens act as preservatives just like formaldehyde.
Lipstick increases toxin ingestion
Lipsticks are worn most of the time, including when eating out. Women ingest them accidentally while eating, long after they are applied. This increases the impact of the toxins present in
lipsticks. The
lipstick or lip gloss result in women exceeding the daily intake permitted for aluminium, cadmium, chromium and manganese. These accumulate in the body over time and cause toxicity. The intake of these metals are more than 20 per cent of their accepted daily intake (ADI) limits. ADI is the maximum amount of a toxin that a person can be exposed to without any major health risk.
These are some are some major side-effects caused by the harmful chemicals and heavy metals present in leading brands of
lipsticks and lip gloss.Studies have also come up with numerous other negative
health effects.
A more serious warning came after EcoWaste Coalition screened 115 samples, representing 11 brands in Asia, for heavy metal contaminants using an X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) analytical device.
Of the 115 samples, 61 (53 percent) were found to contain lead concentrations above the 20 parts per million (ppm) limit under the ASEAN Cosmetic Directive (ACD). Of the 61 lead-laden samples, 41 contained lead above 1,000 ppm, with levels ranging from 1,026 to 44,800 ppm.
Thony Dizon, chemical safety campaigner, EcoWaste Coalition told
Thailand Medical News, “The levels of lead in these
lipsticks are way beyond the permissible limit and, without a shred of doubt, a serious safety concern. Teen girls and adult women should avoid these poison
lipsticks as lead, a cumulative toxicant, can build up in the body over time with frequent application of such
lipsticks. There is no safe level of lead exposure.”
Besides lead, some samples also screened positive for mercury (32 samples), arsenic (53 samples), and cadmium (10 samples) in excess of the ACD’s trace amount limits for these heavy metals (1 ppm for mercury, and 5 ppm for both arsenic and cadmium).
Many brands of
lipsticks ranging from premium brands that claim to have undergone clinical testings and claim to safeguard women’s health to those that claim to be chemical free and organic, were all found to have chemical contamination in them in varying degrees. Cosmetic labeling laws are very lax coupled with many loop-holes.
Women consumers are warned to be careful and to practice due diligence when buying
lipsticks including doing some pre- research on their ingredients etc before making purchases. Also its best not to wear them all day long.
