The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is asking the FDA to get the lead and other environmental toxins out of the beauty products we slather on our skin and face.

“Lead builds up in the body over time, and lead-containing lipstick applied several times a day, every day, can add up to significant exposure levels,” says Mark Mitchell, MD, MPH, president of the Connecticut Coalition for Environmental Justice.

Almost two-thirds of lipsticks recently tested by the campaign were found to have detectable levels of lead, yet lead was never listed as an ingredient. No safe level has been established for this known neurotoxin. Price was no determiner of quality in this study: Dior Addict, at $24.50 a tube, was one of the most contaminated samples, while a $7.49 tube from Revlon was lead-free.

Experts estimate that regular lipstick wearers eat as much as four pounds of lipstick over their lifetime. Check the results for 33 lipsticks tested at www.SafeCosmetics.org.