A hot controversy emerged on Forbes.com this summer that will not be resolved anytime soon.
National Women’s Health Network Raises Alarm About Lead in Lipstick
In its September/October 2011 issue, NWHN suggests that the Society for Women’s health Research and the Personal Care Products Council are industry dominated and concealing or at least disregarding threats to women’s health. In a February meeting these groups scoffed at the hazard of lead in lipstick, even though the Centers for Disease Control says there is NO safe level and suggests avoiding all exposure including in personal care products.
A 2010 study in Nigeria found higher lead levels in women with breast cancer, and that as the amount of lead in these women increased, tumor size increased.
Scientists Say Companies Profit from Harmful Products
Two women scientists, Mia Davis and Amy Lubitow, charged that some cosmetics companies like Avon profit from selling “pink” products to support research into cancer treatments while selling products that actually contain known or likely carcinogens.
Avon countered with their view of the issues, and the scientists quickly rebutted, reiterating their main points. They emphasized that a company that really cared about reducing breast cancer (which BTW is STILL rising) would more meaningfully actually help PREVENT cancer by pledging to remove all known or suspected carcinogens and hormone disrupters from their products. And they would fund research into prevention to, for example, discover why women in the United States have one of the highest rates of breast cancer in the world and why women who move here from other countries “adopt” our rates. Could it be things we eat, drink, breathe, or rub on our bodies? I wonder.