Kiss of Death? Toxic Metals Found in LipstickThursday, 23 May 2013 03:33 PM
A new study that finds
troubling levels of toxic metals in lipstick and lip gloss
is giving women reason to pause before puckering up. John
Salerno, M.D., a board-certified family physician who
specializes in complementary medicine, tells Newsmax Health
that women are wise to reconsider all the cosmetics they
have been using because heavy metal contamination is not
limited to the sheen on their lips.
Researchers at the
University of California, Berkeley School of Public Health
tested 32 different lipsticks and lip glosses and found
alarming levels of lead, cadmium, chromium, aluminum and
other metals. For Dr. Salerno, this comes as no surprise
because the creator of the Silver Cloud Diet tests many of
his own female patients for heavy metals and finds them
showing exposure to lead, arsenic, cadmium, and aluminum.
And in tests on some of his patients’ makeup he has found
high levels of lead, aluminum, and arsenic, he says.
The medical implications may
be serious because associations have been made between
certain metals and health problems, including aluminum
exposure and memory loss and cadmium exposure and cancer.
“We would advise, wherever
possible, [that] women either try to find sources where
there are toxic metal-free lipsticks, mascaras and
eyeliners, etc.,” he says. “It’s really very, very
important. A lot of this clearly can get into the skin and
we can show that with blood tests and urine tests.”
In addition to the recent
University of California, Berkeley study, Dr. Salerno notes
a Canadian study that found 96 percent of the eyeliners,
mascaras and bronzers tested contained lead.
“You almost have to assume
no matter what you have in your drawers and bags is probably
contaminated with some of these metals,” says Dr. Salerno,
who was a protégé of the late Atkins Diet creator Dr. Robert
Atkins.
When shopping for cosmetics,
Dr. Salerno advises looking for products labeled “organic”
and made from natural sources. In New York City, where he
practices, Bloomingdale’s and Saks Fifth Avenue have
cosmetic counters devoted to organic cosmetics made free of
heavy metals. Also, the websites for the Environmental
Working Group’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database and the
Campaign for Safe Cosmetics offer useful guides and consumer
information.
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