CEPHED 2012 Lead in Lipstick- Final Print

8/12/2019 CEPHED 2012 Lead in Lipstick- Final Print

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THE PROBLEM OF LEAD IN

LIPSTICKS IN NEPAL

Poisonous C

Ram Charitra Sah


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Different lipstick brand samplestested for lead contain

P o is o n K is s


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Poisonous Cosm

Ram Charitra Sah

THE PROBLEM OF LEAD INLIPSTICKS IN NEPAL


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Publisher: Center for Public Health and Environmental Development(CEPHED)

Author: Ram Charitra Sah

Copyright: Center for Public Health and Environmental Development(CEPHED), 2012

The material in this publica on may be reproduced in whole or in part andin any form for educa onal or non-pro t uses, without special permissionfrom the copyright holder, provided acknowledgement of the source ismade. The publisher would appreciate receiving a copy of any publica ons,which use this publica on as a source.

No use of this publica on shall be made for resale or other commercial

purposes without prior wri en permission of the CEPHED.

Cita on: Sah, Ram Charitra. 2012. Poisonous Cosme cs, the Problem of Lead inLips ck in Nepal, viii+7. Kathmandu: CEPHED.

Design by: Krishna Prasad Subedi

Printed at: Sigma General O set Press Sanepa, Lalitpur-2, Nepal Tel.: ++977-1-5554029

Available from: CEPHEDNayabas , Imadol-5, Lalitpur

Kathmandu, Nepal Tel.: ++977-01-5201786 Fax: ++977-01-5201786 Email: [email protected]

CEPHED would like to acknowledge the nacial and technical support ofSwedish Society for Nature Conserva on (SSNC), Sweden for this research,implementa on of heavy metals and chemical safety programs in Nepal.

The opinions expressed herein are those of the writer and may notnecessarily re ect the o cial view of Swedish Society for NatureConserva on (SSNC), Sweden.


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Acknowledgement

Center for Public Health and Environment Development (CEPHED) is highly thankful to Swedish Society for NatureConserva on (SSNC), Sweden and Toxic Link, India for nancial and technical support throughout the researchwork and implementa on of the heavy metals as well as chemical safety programs in Nepal.

We would sincerely like to thanks the Laboratories: Nepal Environmental and Scien c Service (P) Ltd. (NESS)for helping us to test lead in lips cks sample which helped us to bring the real scenario of cosme c products inNepalese market. CEPHED is highly acknowledge the hard e ort made by Ms Archana Sah, Ms Sabina Silwal andMs Juna Giri, program o cers of CEPHED to ini ally work on sampling and repor ng of its own kind rst everpublica on based on primary level of indica ve research carried out by CEPHED.

Ram Charitra Sah

Execu ve DirectorCenter for Public Health and Environmental Development (CEPHED)Nayabas , Imadol-5, Lalitpur, NepalTel/Fax +977-1-5201786Mobile:+977 9803047621Email [email protected]

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Executive Summary

Cosme cs are being used from the early historical era but simply the form of the cosme cs and the way ofusing it was di erent. From the me immemorial both the men and women are equally fund of cosme cs.In earlier days people use to mix di erent types of chemicals and products to make cosme cs to be applied

in their face which include even the heavy metals. Galena Mesdemet is one example of such cosme c usedin ancient Egyp an period. It is an eye product that is made up of copper and lead ore.

Di erent literatures available prove that the heavy metals are used in large quan ty in cosme cs duringdi erent me period depending in the products of cosme cs they wanted to use. And these cosme csthat have been prepared as heavy metals as there ingredients is very toxic to health. It may cause variousproblems like damage in brain, kidney, nervous system, reproduc ve system and even cause a cancer anddeath.

Many European and African countries have baned heavy metals in consme cs and even x the standard.However, Nepal does not have any standards, guidelines or policies regarding the concentra on of heavymetals in cosme cs or in any other products. There is no any goverment agencies responsible for regula ngchemicals in cosme cs in Nepal. Therefore, there is no limit for such impuri es in products in Nepal. Forthis reason, under this study the guideline considered for analyzing the result of lead in lips ck is US Foodand Drug Administra ons 0.1 ppm of lead in candy standard since there is no exact guidelines for lead inlips cks.

This was the rst ever study carried out by CEPHED in Nepal about chemicals in product especially incosme cs to inform the wide users about the level of contamina on and associated health impacts.Basically the study was done in very popular and most used cosme c products: lips cks. The concentra onobserved in these products were Lead, a very toxic chemical at very alarming level of health concern.

8 Samples of di erent most common and popular brand of Lips cks were collected from di erent marketareas of Kathmandu.

The collected lips cks samples were tested for lead (Pb) at Nepal Environmental and Scien c Services (P)Ltd, Kathmandu, Nepal. Lead in lips cks samples were tested by AAS method. The result shows that thepopular lips cks available in the Nepalese market contain very high level of lead enough to cause di erentkinds of disabili es and problems in human health up on con nuous use.

The test result of lead in lips ck shows the alarming amount of lead contamina on. All the samples oflips cks have lead level higher than USFDA guidelines of 0.1 ppm. The highest amount of lead concentra onwas found in blood red color of MAC brand lips ck (i.e. 145 ppm, 1450 mes higher than USFDA guidelines).The lowest amount was found in berry- berry 18 of Loreal Paris brand (i.e. 30 ppm, 300 mes higher thanthe USFDA guidelines).

The market survey shows that there is no any monitoring regarding quality, sell, import and distribu onof cosme cs in Nepalese market. There is no proper labelling of ingredients in the cosme c products andspecially regarding heavy metals. So, general people are not aware of such contamina on in the productthey are relying on. Therefore, there is an immediate need to formulate a guidelines and standardsregarding the heavy metal concentra on in cosme cs to minimize the exposure of general public with toxicheavy metals as well as there should be some ins tu onal arrangement to regulate the sector. The massawareness about the chemicals in products especially in cosme cs needs to be launched.

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About CEPHED ...................................................................................................................iii

Acknowledgement ............................................................................................................ iv

Execu ve Summary ............................................................................................................v

Acronyms ............................................................................................................................vi

Lead in Lips cks ..........................................................................................1

1. Introduc on to Lead ...................................................................................................................1

2. Use of Lead in cosme cs .............................................................................................................1

3. Impacts of Lead on Health and Environment ...............................................................................2

3.1 Impact of Lead on Health ...................................................................................................2

3.2 E ects of lead exposure during pregnancy ..........................................................................2

3.3 Impact of Lead on Environment .........................................................................................3

4. Interna onal guidelines for Lead in cosme cs .............................................................................3

5. Na onal Law and Standards for Lead in Cosme cs ......................................................................3

6. Ra onal of the study and Problem Statement .............................................................................4

7. Objec ves of the study ...............................................................................................................4

8. Sample Collec on, Laboratory Methods and Analysis .................................................................4

8.1 Sample Collec on ...............................................................................................................4

8.2 Materials and Methods ......................................................................................................5

8.2.1 Method used: ................................................................................................................5

8.2.2 Procedure: .....................................................................................................................5

9. Key Findings ......................................................................................................................................6

10. Conclusion ......................................................................................................................................7

11. Recommenda on ............................................................................................................................7

Table of Contents

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1

Lead in Lipsticks

1. Introduction to Lead

Heavy metals are some mes de ned on the basis of their density, atomic weight, atomic numberand some mes on chemical proper es of toxicity. Due to the contradictory de ni on and its lack ofcoherent scien c basis the term heavy metal has been calleda misinterpreta on in Interna onal Union of Pure and AppliedChemistry (IUPAC) technical report. [1] Ar cle 1 of Conven on of LongRange Transboundary Air Pollu on on Heavy Metal (1979) has de nedheavy metal as: those metals or, in some cases, metalloids which arestable and have a density greater than 4.5 g/cm3 and their compounds.Lead is one of the heavy metal that occurs naturally in environment. Itis a bluish-white lustrous metal. It is very so , highly malleable, duc le,and a rela vely poor conductor of electricity. It is very resistant tocorrosion but tarnishes upon exposure to air. Lead isotopes are the endproducts of each of the three series of naturally occurring radioac veelements. [2]

Toys made colorful so plas cs available in Nepali market arent theonly products laced with dangerous heavy metals. Cosme c such asLips cks and skin whitening creams manufactured, imported, sold, distributed and marketed in Nepal andused daily by millions of Nepalese women and children also contain surprisingly high levels of lead.

2. Use of Lead in Cosmetics

There is an old saying that necessity is the mother of the inven on, as there was a much emphasis forlooking good for ancient Egyp an women, they had to nd the way to do it. Then they came up with galena

mesdemet. It was made of copper and lead ore. [3] It was not safe to put constantly inthe face but however, it worked and they used it. Similarly, Kohl is a eye cosme csused to darken the eyelids and as a mascara for eyelashes. It was made by grindinggalena (lead sul de) and other ingredients. [4]

A study by US consumer group Campaign for Safe Cosme cs , in October 2007

found 60 percent of lips cks tested contained trace amounts of lead, especially in redlips cks. [5] The levels of lead varied from 0.03 to 0.65 parts per million. One third of thelips cks containing lead exceeded the 0.1 ppm limit set by the U.S. Food and Drug Administra on (USFDA)for lead in candy. [6] [7] Lead is being used in Lips ck mainly for the pigments required to obtained neededcolours.

1 John H. Du us Heavy metals a meaningless term? (IUPAC Technical Report) Pure and Applied Chemistry,2002, Vol. 74, pp. 793807

2 h p://www.lenntech.com/periodic/elements/pb.htm3 h p://www.thehistoryof.net/the-history-of-cosme cs.html4 www. wikipedia.org/wiki/Kohl_(cosme cs)5 My Product Alert: Extensive Report on Lead in Lips cks6 US FDA: Document on Lead in Candy7 FDA Lips ck and Lead: Ques ons and Answers

A women usign lips cks

Poison kiss


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3. Impacts of Lead on Health and Environment

3.1 Impact of Lead on Health

People are generally exposed to lead by three major ways: inhala on, inges on and absorp on. Routes ofexposure to lead include contaminated air, water, soil, food, and consumer products.

The more toxicologists and other researchers inves gated the health e ects of lead, the more they realizedthat even very low levels of lead exposure were hazardous [8] . Lead may cause neuro developmentale ects in children. [9] Other e ects include cardiovascular, renal,gastrointes nal, hematological and reproduc ve e ects. [5] Children of six years old and below that are more at the risk. [10]

When the person is exposed to the lead, the blood lead level ofthe person raise up that leads to the lead poisoning. [11] Adultsthat are exposed to a dangerous amount of lead can experienceanemia, nervous system dysfunc on, weakness, hypertension,kidney problems, decreased fer lity and increased level ofmiscarriages, and low birth weight and premature deliveries. [12] Children exposed to high levels of lead show similar symptoms,including anemia, kidney damage, colic, neurological impairment,and impaired vitamin D metabolism. [8] According to World HealthOrganiza on, no blood lead level is safe.

The Campaign for Safe Cosme cs is par cularly concerned aboutlead exposure for children and pregnant women. The CDCsAdvisory Commi ee for Childhood Lead Poisoning Preven on recently stated that there is no safe lead level for children.

Lead poisoning causes a wide range ofproblems from low IQ and slowed growth in childrento memory loss, mood disorders, and miscarriagein adults [13] . Exposure to lead can cause a range of deleterious health e ect frombehavioral problem and learning disabili es to seizures and death. Children 6 yearold under are most at risk because children are growing at a very fast rate - growingbones, developing stronger muscles and crea ng many connec ons in their brain.When lead instead of essen al nutrients is available to the body to make bones,muscle, and brain connec ons, permanent harm to health can occur. [14] In a childsdeveloping brain, lead interferes with synapse (junc on for communica on)

forma on in the cerebral cortex, neurochemical development (including that ofneurotransmi ers), and organiza on of ion channels . It causes loss of neuronsmyelin sheaths, reduces numbers of neurons, interferes with neurotransmission,

and decreases neuronal growth.

8 Gilbert SG. and Weiss B. A Ra onale for Lowering the Blood Lead Ac on Level From 10 to 2 g/dL. Neurotoxi-cology. 27(5), September 2006, pp 693-701.

9 NEP 2008a, Interim review of scien c informa on on lead, Taken 2008-05-18 from h p://www.chem.unep.ch/Pb_and_Cd/SR/Files/2008/UNEP_ Lead _review_Interim-mar102008.doc

10 h p://www.epa.gov/lead

11 Stellman, Jeanne Mager (1998). Encyclopaedia of Occupa onal Health and Safety. Interna onal Labour Organi

za on. pp. 81.281.4.12 h p://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxpro les/tp13.pdf ATSDR Toxicological Pro le for Lead13 www.forbes.com/.../is-that- lead -in-your- lips ck -fda-tests-reveal-raise .14 h p://www.kingcounty.gov/healthservices/health/ehs/toxic/Leadgeneral.aspx

Brain damage causedby lead

Impact of Lead on Health

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3.2 Effects of lead exposure during pregnancy 15

A pregnant womans past or present exposure to lead puts her unbornbaby at risk. When she breathes in or swallows lead, it goes into her blood.Once the lead is in the bloodstream, it passes through the placenta into thebaby and into the babys developing bones and other organs. If a pregnant

woman has had past exposure to lead, her body may store the lead in herbones and teeth. If the pregnant womans diet does not contain enoughcalcium, the body may subs tute lead in the bones for the calcium thatthe baby needs. Lead exposure can a ect the unborn childs brain, causingdevelopmental problems later in life. Fetuses exposed to lead before birthmay be born early or underweight. 16

Lead is a proven neurotoxin that can cause learning, languageand behavioral problems such as lowered IQ, reduced schoolperformance and increased aggression. Pregnant women and youngchildren are par cularly vulnerable to lead exposure because lead

easily crosses the placenta and may enter the fetal brain, whereit interferes with normal development. Lead has also been linkedto miscarriage, reduced fer lity in both men and women, hormonalchanges, menstrual irregulari es and delays in the onset of puberty. Lead builds up in the bodyover me and lead -containing lips ck applied several mes a day, every day, combined with leadin water and other sources, could add up to signi cant exposure levels. The most recent studiesconclude that there is no safe level of lead. No amount of exposure is without harm. Miscarriage,reduced fer lity in both men and women, hormonal changes, menstrual irregulari es and delaysin when puberty begins for girls have all been linked to lead exposure. At puberty, boys developingtestes appear to be especially vulnerable to leads impact. Women inadvertently (but harmlessly)eat about 4 lbs of lips ck in a life me. Unfortunately, the latest science shows that no level oflead is harmless. 17

3.3 Impact of Lead on Environment

US Environmental Protec on Agency (USEPA) has suggested that the uneven distribu on of lead in theecosystem can displace other metals from the binding sites on the organic ma er. It may hinder thechemical breakdown of inorganic soil fragments and lead in the soil may become more soluble, thus beingmore readily available to be taken up by plants. 18 Near industrial areas the low concentra on of lead in soilcan slow down the vegeta on growth. [19] Lead accumulates in the surface ground layer in soil. [ ] These leadis easily taken up by plants which is in turn taken up by animals, human and starts accumula ng in di erent

organs in them. Animals also show same symptoms of lead poisoning as in human.

4. International guidelines for Lead in Cosmetics

There is no exact guideline for lead in cosme cs. However some compara ve, guidelines are used to limitthe lead in lips ck. U.S. Food and Drug Administra on, has set up 0.1 ppm limit for lead in candy- to protectthe people from directly inges ng the lead which is used for lips ck as well. Similarly, Health CanadaProduct Safety Laboratory while reviewing and analyzing the results of heavy metal tes ng on a number of

15 h p://www.leadsafeillinois.org/family-safety/pregnancy.asp16 h p://safecosme cs.org/downloads/A Poison Kiss_report.pdf

17 h p://www.lead.org.au/lanv1n2/lanv1n2-8.htm18 h p://www.extraordinaryroadtrip.org/research-library/air-pollu on/understanding-air pollu on/lead/ealth.asp19 de Abreu CA, de Abreu MF and de Andrade JC (1998), Distribu on of lead in the soil pro le evaluated by DTPA

and Mehlich-3 solu ons, Bragan a 57: 185-192.

E ects of lead during pregnancy


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cosme cs sold in Canada determines the limit for the heavy metal impuri es. According to which, lead levelexceeding 10 ppm is considered technically avoidable.

5. National Law and Standards for Lead in Cosmetics

Nepal does not have any standards, guidelines and legisla on regarding lead in any cosme c products.There are no government agencies responsible for regula ng lead in cosme cs. Neither a governmentagencies nor private sectors monitor the heavy metal impuri es in cosme cs imported, produced,marketed, distributed and used in Nepal. There is absolute lack of awareness among the users andconsumers of such products and no bodies bother about the content and even labelling as well as expirydates of products.

6. Rational of the Study and Problem Statement

Lead has been used in so many products but not been recognized its impact yet fully, thus it has been in theinvisible site. The reason behind this could be the low level of awareness about lead and its impact in healthand environment. But the scenario in Nepal seems to be challenging in products like cosme c as well asar cial jwelry where there is absence of any legal framework and ins tu onal arrangement.

However, there is s ll lot to change especially the Nepalese cosme c manufactures and traders of the leadbased products such as cosme cs. Among which the, contamina on of lead in cosme cs is also one. Thelips cks have been very common and mostly used cosme c products were taken as a sample under thisstudy to test for the total lead concentra on in them.

The cosme c products that enter to the Nepalese market are not monitored by any sectors and eventhere are no standards, guidelines or policy regarding chemicals in such products. Speci c Laboratory forexamina on of heavy metals in cosme cs is lacking as well.

7. Objectives of the Study

Broad Objective:

To study the Lead concentra on in the Lips cks .

Specifc Objectives:

To study the amount of lead in di erent brands of lips cks available in the market of Kathma ndu.To aware the general consumer of cosme cs about impact of lead in lips cks. To advocate for formula ng standard, guideline and allocate the responsible government authorityto deal with the issues of chemicals in products.

8. Sample Collection, Laboratory Methods and Analysis

8.1 Sample Collection

With vision of exploring the lead contamina on in lips cks, the market of Kathmandu was explored forthe most popular brands among the consumers. A er the market survey, eight popular brands of lips cksamples were collected. The samples thus collected were coded sent to Nepal Environment and Scien cService(NESS) Private Limited (NS Accredita on No. Pra. 01/053-54) for laboratory analysis to test lead inlips cks.

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8.2 Materials and Methods 20

8.2.1 Method used:

Atomic Absorp on Spectroscopy (AAS).

8.2.2 Procedure:

The accurately weighed sample (0.5000g) was taken in clean and dry beaker from the homogeneous lips ck.About 25mL of triacidmixture (70:7:23) of nitric, sulfuric and perchloric acid was added and digested overelectronically controlled hot plate with watch glass cover in a diges on hood. The diges on was carried outat low heat at rst followed by increase in temperature. The sample was digested up to the white fumes.The digested sample was cooled and quan ta ve amount of dis lled water was added and ltered into a25ml volumetric ask. A er cooling, the nal volume was adjusted volumetrically with dis lled water. Thecontent of lead in the aliquot was calculated by aspira ng through AAS. The working lead standard solu ons

20 Journal of Cosme c Science, 2009 / Atomic Spectroscopy vol. 19, 1998

Di erent lips ck brand samples tested for lead contain


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that had already prepared from Na onal Ins tute for Standard and Technology (NIST), USA lead stocksolu on were used for the AAS calibra on curve genera on. The result thus obtained has been presented inthe table below.

Table 1: Result of LEAD content in the tested lips ck brands from Kathmandu Valley

S.N.

Sample

code Brand Color/Shade

Lead

Amount(ppm)

Remark

(USFDA guidelines (0.1 ppmfor colorant for Candy)1 NPA1 Revlon Wicked Chocolate-101 40 400 mes higher2 NPA2 Loreal Paris Berry Berry-18 30 300 mes higher3 NPA3 Lakme Strawberry Splash-353 50 500 mes higher

4 NPA4 M.A.C. Blood Red-13 145 1450 mes higher

5 NPA5 ShiseidoGlam Shine(Holographic)-18

123 1230 mes higher

6 NPA6 Dily Pink-24 116 1160 mes higher

7 NPA7 Channel Brown -19 101 1010 mes higher

8 NPA8 Midie Light pink-540 116 1160 mes higherAverage 90.125 901 mes higher

Source: NESS Pvt. Ltd. Laboratory Results

9.Key Findings

Key ndings from the conducted laboratory analysis for the total lead concentra on in the studied brands ofthe lips cks can be summarized as follows.

All tested samples (100%) exceeded the US Food and Drugs Administra ons lead in candystandard of 0.1 parts per million (ppm), ranging from 30 to 145 ppm.

Highest 145 ppm was found in Sa mple NPA4 (M.A.C. Brand). This is 1450 mes more than the0.1 ppm, US lead in candy standard.

Least 30 ppm was found in sample NPA2 (Loreal Paris Brand). This is again 300 mes more thanthe US lead in candy standard.

Other sample NPA1 (Revlon Brand), NPA3 (Lakme Brand), NPA5 (Shiseido Brand), NPA6 (DilyBrand), NPA7 (Channel Brand) and NPA8 (Midie Brand) have lead concentra on of 40, 50,123, 116, 101 and 116 ppm respec vely.

Average lead content of all 8 lips ck is 90.125 ppm (901 mes higher than USFDA 0.1 ppm).

Lead content also varies across brands and shades/colour.None of these samples labelled lead as in their ingredient.

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0

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10 0

15 0

4030

50

145

12311 6

10 1116

0. 1 V a l u e

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Lead Content in Lipstick (ppm)


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CEPHED 2012 Lead in Lipstick- Final Print

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