MAKEUP'S CUTE, LEAD'S NOT

BY: Mylien Lai

Isn’t it cute when children try on makeup for the first time? Yet...they might be wearing lead, asbestos, and other toxic chemicals on their faces. What makes it worse is that the type of makeup products they’re wearing–glitter, face paint, and lip gloss–are marketed for children.

The chemicals, as contaminants or intentionally added, are linked to serious health effects, including cancer.. Compared to adults, children are at more risk for harm due to their developing immune systems and habit to ingest more chemicals. Besides skin absorption, children can accidentally ingest them orally–about a third of them reported this occurrence in a study.

With this information, states–including New York and Washington–are considering tightening up regulations around personal care products, toys, and makeup. However, there are few federal regulations surrounding this issue. Hopefully that will soon change!