Sexy, but also infested with brain-destroying lead.

Of the many things that brought down the Roman empire, one of the things that is mentioned the most is the lead content in the average Roman’s blood.  The Romans apparently were exposed to a great deal of lead, thanks to their famous system of aqueducts and their lead-filled cosmetics.  Apparently, lead in cosmetics is still a problem today, according to the US Food and Drug Administration.  According to the FDA, 400 popular shades of lipstick across all major brands is contaminated with lead.

“We do not consider the lead levels we found in the lipsticks to be a safety concern. The lead levels we found are within the limits recommended by other public health authorities for lead in cosmetics, including lipstick,” wrote the FDA on its website.

The majority of the 400 types of lipstick tested by the FDA falls under California legal limits for lead in cosmetics–California’s 5 parts per million is the strictest in the country.  However, two offenders jumped the standard:  Maybelline’s Color Sensation in Pink Petal and L’Oreal Colour Riche in Volcanic.  The Pink Petal had 7.19 parts per million, and the Volcanic had 7 parts per million.  Since the first survey in 2007, lead levels in makeup have risen across the board, with makeup from Nars, Cover Girl, and pretty much every brand having representatives between 4 and 5 parts per million.

As it turns out, that quest for beauty could possibly lead to future health problems.

Tags: cosmetics, lipstick, fda, food and drug administration, lead levels in lipstick, 400 lipstick brands ranked by lead content, maybelline, l’oreal, nars, cover girl, lead in lipstick, makeup, health effects of makeup, lead in makeup

I’ve never had a problem eating food from a gas station.  Just two weeks ago, I ate a couple of hot dogs purchased from a gas station.  They were delicious.  That’s not the first time I’ve eaten gas station food, and I doubt it will be the last.  There’s nothing like a fun food novelty. […]

Commissioner Roger Goodell gathered 32 NFL owners for one big question.  One of the league’s most wanderlust-stricken franchises is looking to move again.  The Oakland-Los Angeles-Oakland Raiders, tired of gutting it out in a run-down stadium, were once again looking for greener pastures.  Only the Miami Dolphins refused to cooperate.  With a vote of 31-1, […]

In 2006, an injury to Dallas Cowboys starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe opened the door for an undrafted free agent by the name of Tony Romo to take the helm of America’s Team and lead the Dallas Cowboys to an early playoff exit.  Bledsoe went from starter to afterthought in a season.  Now, the circle continues […]

For 89 years, Oscars has never had a major mistake.  The last few Oscars might have had a few flubs, but at least they never got the most important category of the night wrong.  Well, that’s now changed, all thanks to OG Bonnie and Clyde legends Warren Beatty and Faye Dunaway.  When Faye Dunaway called […]

Tom Brady has been wildly successful, if controversial.  He’s the first quarterback ever to win five Super Bowls and only the second player to do so after Charles Haley.  Unlike Haley, Brady won all his Super Bowls with the same team, the New England Patriots.  The only thing that seems to be able to stop […]

Ben Affleck, no matter what you might think of him, is a talented actor and director.  He’s got the goods, but he’s smart enough to know when he’s in over his head.  All along, since he took on the mantle of Batman, he’s had his eyes on writing, directing, and starring as the Caped Crusader. […]

In May, students for the for-profit American College of Education were running into some problems.  Their access to email accounts and course information was locked down by Google, who had disabled their accounts.  The reason why?  A fired IT worker for the American College of Education locked the school out of their Google cloud account. […]