Seeing the whole scenario of association of branded lipsticks in Indian market, experts found few brands of lipsticks contain high levels of toxic lead. The report regarding the presence of toxic chemicals in brands like; Lakme D414 (red) and Ivovi 10 (brown) have been submitted by Consumer Education and Research Society (CERS), Ahmedabad in their latest issue of Insight, a consumer magazine.

They found that few of the above mentioned brands exceed the limit laid down by the Bureau of Indian Standards (BIS).The maximum limit is 20ppm, but brands are exceeding this limit to 25 ppm.

CERS has reviewed 43 varieties of lipsticks wrapping 19 brands and 3 varieties of lip gloss from three other brands and found that all these brands have noticeable amount of lead content. Among lip glosses with 12 ppm , Maybelline 09 Water shine Liquid Diamond lip gloss witnessed the highest levels of lead.

CERS wants to create awareness in the public and would like to demolish the myth that, Costly lipsticks guarantee safety. It was found that lipsticks costing Rs. 10 had lead content ranging from 2 ppm to 17 ppm as compared to lipsticks priced above Rs 100. CERS has established two local brands Personi 140 Matte (magenta) and Lips & Tips 110 (orange) witnessed least amount of lead i. e. 2 ppm.

According to CERS, the only way to check the presence of toxic lead in the lipsticks is testing these lipsticks in laboratory. Among the lipsticks taken for test, 30 varieties had lead level higher than 10ppm, 16 varieties of brown lipsticks had lead content between 7ppm and 25ppm and 20 varieties of lipsticks had lead levels ranging from 4ppm to 23ppm.

CERS also declared that lead does not break down in the body and its presence for longer period can result in learning, language and behavioral problems. Studies revealed that women in their life time can intake on an average 2 kg of lipsticks, which can be linked with infertility and miscarriage. Study also claimed that intake of lipsticks with higher levels of lead can be dangerous to pregnant women and children as it easily pass through the placenta and enters the fetal brain where it can hamper the normal development.

During the study it was also found that few of the branded lipsticks have contravened the labeling requisite. In addition to this ignorance, 23 lipsticks and one lip gloss were found with missing batch number, 10 lipsticks and 2 lip glosses with missing license. Moreover, 90% of the lipsticks do not carry date of manufacturing and expiry and 35 varieties were recorded with no price tags on them.

Brands tested namely ; Eyetex, Revlon, Elle 18, L'Oreal, Chambor, Streetwear, Lakme, Max Factor, Maybelline, Oriflame, Color Bar, Tian Nuo, ADS, Fendi, Personi, Roop Vella, Lip Care, Ivovi, Lips & Tips, Silora.

CERS suggested these brands to follow the mandatory rules to display the list of ingredients, the maximum retail price, date of manufacture and expiry on products below the pack size of 10 gm/10 ml. It urges manufacturers to prohibit the use of color that had high levels of lead and keep the level of lead between 0 ppm to 20ppm.