Read my lips: Beware of toxic lipstick

Most women can’t leave home without it. Some women can’t live without it. It’s on the lips of a lot of women around the world — literally speaking.  Of course, we’re talking about the lipstick, that beauty weapon women like to arm themselves with.

“Beware of what you put on your lips as there may be poisons lurking in your lipstick,”
EcoWaste Coalition gave this warning to consumers during a pre-Valentine press briefing aptly titled “Poison Kiss.”

Kiss these toxic lipsticks goodbye and heed this warning from the mouths of experts:  They contain hazardous chemicals and impurities such as arsenic, lead, and mercury, which are listed in the “top ten chemicals of major public health concern” and the “dirty dozen list of endocrine disruptors.”

 
 

“Arsenic, lead, and mercury in lipstick may be absorbed or ingested when you lick or wet your lips, drink, and eat while wearing a tainted lipstick, or when you kiss or lock lips with someone wearing one,” comes this friendly warning from Aileen Lucero, EcoWaste Coalition national coordinator.

“While instant adverse effect is not expected, be forewarned that chronic long-term exposure to toxic metals even at low doses could harm a person’s health.”

These poisonous lipsticks are harmful to our health as well as to Mother Earth. Lucero adds, “The hazardous chemicals in lipstick and other cosmetics take their toll on the environment, too, as these are washed down the drain and into the water system.”

EcoWaste sifted through 70 lipsticks, priced at P7 to P80 each and bought from 13 discount shops in Divisoria and Quiapo, Manila City, and in  Baclaran in Parañaque and Pasay Cities.

These lipsticks were tested for toxic metals with a portable x-ray fluorescence device using the following allowable limits under the Asean cosmetics directive as reference: 1 part per million (ppm) for mercury, 5 ppm for arsenic, and 20 ppm for lead. 

 EcoWaste Coalition reported that 27 of the 70 samples of lipstick (39%) were found to contain detectable levels of one or more heavy metals above the Asean limits.



And the top 10 samples with the highest levels of lead are:  Baolishi #20 (green case) with 18,500 ppm; Baolishi #20 (golden case), 15,600 ppm; Baolishi #20 (yellow case), 14,000 ppm; Baolishi #20 (red case), 3,337 ppm; Baolishi #20 (yellow case), 3,258 ppm; Monaliza #20 (pink case), 2,796 ppm; Monaliza #20 (golden case), 2,613 ppm; Monaliza #20 (with cartoon case), 2,142 ppm; Kiss Beauty #7, 383 ppm; Kiss Beauty #8, 208 ppm; and Kiss Beauty #7 with 72 ppm. 



Leading the dreaded list, lead, the EcoWaste Coalition warns, can build up in the body over time and leaded lipstick, applied several times a day, can combine with lead from other sources, such as lead paint and dust, to add up to considerable exposure levels. Authorities say that women exposed to lead are prone to: miscarriage, premature birth, reduced fertility, menstrual irregularities, and other reproductive disorders.  Lead easily traverses the placenta and enters the fetal brain, obstructing normal development. 

Another potent neurotoxin is mercury, which was found highest in Popa #12 (90 ppm), Kaixi Beauty #60 with 85 ppm and Chanleevi #04 with 88 ppm.  At high risk are pregnant women who can pass it to the developing fetus. 

The grim truth is mercury is known to concentrate in the fetal brain, disrupting brain development and causing lifelong health problems.



Also, high levels of arsenic, a human carcinogen, were detected in the following lipsticks: Baolishi #20 (green case) with 497 ppm; Baolishi #20 (golden case), 450 ppm; and Baolishi #20 (yellow case) with 421 ppm.
Long-term xposure to arsenic can lead to chronic arsenic poisoning and cause such health problems as skin lesions, peripheral neuropathy, diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and cancer.


How to avoid such tainted lipsticks? Here are some lipstick tips:

•  Assert your right to information and refrain from buying and using inadequately labeled lipstick.  A duly-registered lipstick will provide the following information in English: product name, ingredients, net content, instruction on usage, batch number, special precautions if any, and country of manufacture/importer. 

 

•  Visit the FDA website (to see if the lipstick has market authorization from the agency).

• Limit use of lipstick to minimize exposure to disclosed (as well as undisclosed) product ingredients.

Smile! Here’s to happy, healthy lips!

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SM Supermarket bags gold ‘bagwis’ seal

SM’s surely got it all. And now, SM Supermarket has been awarded by the Department of Trade and Industry the highest honors for service excellence, the Corporate Gold Bagwis Seal for its advocacy of protecting consumer rights by basically having a consumer welfare desk, implementing social responsibility programs, as well as being ISO 9001-compliant.

SM Supermarket ensures its shoppers get a wide variety of quality goods at the most reasonable prices amid the most convenient environment.  Truly, a comfortable shopping experience without straining the consumer’s  budget is what you’ll get at SM Supermarket.

More, SM Supermarket remains an active part of the community through its various corporate social responsibility programs like “Join the MOB (MyOwnBag),” which encourages shoppers to adopt a greener lifestyle; Grow A Million Trees aimed at reforestation; and Fruits of Hope, which helps Mindanao farmers sell their produce in different parts of the country.

Likewise, SM is ever ready to respond to emergencies and calamities, preparing relief goods, providing charging stations and warm cups of coffee/hot chocolate to comfort affected individuals.

DTI hailed SM Supermarket for earning the trust of Filipino consumers by looking after their welfare, making it truly deserving of the Corporate Bagwis Seal.

DTI added that SM Supermarket “upholds a fair and honest marketplace not just for consumers but also for its employees and business partners; SM extends the same courtesy to small businesses like it does to multinationals. Taxes are also paid on time and in right amounts as part of its contribution to the local and national economies.”