FDA failed to warn about tainted cosmetics
February 10, 2009 by Personal Liberty News Desk
In yet another example of serious oversight, advocacy groups have revealed that the health industry watchdog is failing to act on information about cosmetics containing lead.
Although Campaign for Safe Cosmetics signaled a year ago that 61 percent of lipsticks it had tested contained lead, and despite pressure from politicians and health advocates, FDA has thus far failed to issue a public warning or conduct its own study.
"The typical turnaround time in a laboratory for lead tests is 10 days. There’s no reason for FDA to sit on its lead-in-lipstick research for over a year," says Stacy Malkan of the CSC, a national coalition of health and environmental groups.
The coalition believes that the lead problem stretches beyond lipsticks and cites a recent announcement from the Canadian government that it had found lead in children’s face paint.
Health Canada, the equivalent of FDA, has designated several compounds found in cosmetics as toxic, a step towards their elimination. However, FDA "has no such toxic designation, does not conduct routine safety testing of personal care products, and does not publicly report information in a timely manner," according to the CSC statement.
These latest revelations follow recent criticism leveled at the agency by President Obama after a salmonella outbreak linked to tainted peanut butter killed eight people and sickened hundreds. 
When the FDA only checks less than 1% of anything at all, I would think if people knew that, they would be very careful in what they purchase, use or gift. It’s getting to the point that I will not buy alot of things I used to buy, things I need for fear of what it contains. You sure cannot rely on labels OR the FDA to tell you that the product has a deadly amt. of lead in it! You could have it in everything in your home. Thats our Gov. for ya. I hope people are beginning to see what is ACTUALLY taking place here….
FDA is a waste of tax payer dollars.
They are in the limelite all the
time for negligence but never have
to answer. Use your own common sense.
Again, big corporations own the government,
but tax payers pay their salary.
We have been hearing about tainted cosmetics for years. We as womens know that this mess that we use to put on our face is not good for our skin if we did not clean our skin after we used the junk. We were told yeas ago to only use water no soap. Now, why do we need FDA to tell us to not to use something that they have not even tested.