KISS OF DEATH: The Chain Email About Lead in Lipsticks Wasn't A Lie

Lots of folks tend to discard any "forwards" in their "inbox" sent by the one friend who has nothing better to do than send chain emails. But sadly, this particular chain email is true. There is lead in many lipsticks, Virgina - probably yours.

Many myth-debunking websites have themselves been debunked by the heavy-hitting mainstream news sites who ran their own tests on lipsticks sold in regular drugstores and found that some indeed contained enough lead to pose a threat. You can't go around screaming "FIRE!" without someone checking. And in light of new science that points to environmental factors linked to breast cancer, AltMD is proud to revisit this topic.

Randy Paige of CBS Los Angeles was one of the first reporters to test the email. He said, "I bought nineteen different lipsticks and lip gloss products, and then brought them to this state of the art toxicology laboratory run by the county of Los Angeles. The results: Out of 19 lipsticks four came back positive."

Enviroblog was asked as recently as this March to debunk the "urban legend" that first appeared in 2003. Here's what they said:

"We wish it weren't so, but lead has recently been found in lipstick. Two television news programs--Los Angeles’ KCBS-TV and Pittsburgh’s WPXI-TV--both tested several brands and reportedly found lead in some at levels between 0.2 and 0.4 parts per million. That sounds like a insignificant amount, but that's two to four times the FDA limit for lead in candy. Cosmetics companies claim that the lead in their products come from background pollution--meaning the lead in the air gets folded into their products during the manufacturing process. The common sense answer is that you should avoid lead, especially when you're putting it in or around your mouth."

According to About.Com "The human skin is a living, dynamic tissue system. It has the remarkable ability to absorb applied products, partially or completely, into the bloodstream." Shockingly, the average woman, they say, can absorb up to one to four tubes of lipstick over 60 years.

The debunking sites have not even tested the products themselves. They use data gleaned from the FDA, which is the source of the "allowable" lead content.

(Can you read between the lines?)

What about the designer brands the email claimed to contain lead, as well?

Many debunkers here, but the email is highly detailed. It goes into specific brands and shades.

See the excerpt below taken from the American Cancer Society's own, Cancer SURVIVOR'S Network site.

"The Brands which contain lead are:
I. CHRISTIAN DIOR
2. LANCOME
3. CLINIQUE
4. Y.S.L (Yves St. Laurent)
5. ESTEE LAUDER
6. SHISEIDO
7. RED EARTH (Lip Gloss)
8. CHANEL (Lip Conditioner)
9. MARKET AMERICA-MOTNES LIPSTICK.
The higher the lead content, the greater the chance of causing cancer."

Enough already. Moving forward, the email tells you about lead-lipsticks, but offers no alternatives.

We will. Consider lip liner and lip balm as an alternative to lipstick. This smart trick will also prevent feathered or bleeding color on your lips.

Burt's Bees makes a fabulous line of just that in shades which match Chanel gloss exactly, without the untimely death. Wild Honey Lipsticks contain the least ingredients, colored with natural minerals and oxides. Logona Cosmetics, a classic in the natural marketplace, makes lipliners that double as lipsticks. Or try a recipe to make your own from The Ponte Vedra Soap Shop which sells natural oils and ingredients.

Kiss lead "good-bye" once and for all.