Saturday, October 31, 2009

Metals found in kids/adults Halloween face paints

Here is an interesting article that may make you think twice about slathering on those face paints tonight before trick or treating. I know my son rec'd an actual chemical burn once from face paint applied at school for a performance. With our skin being our largest organ, absorption does occur with these types of products. Lead has been widely studied for its hazardous effects on developing brains. So, "Have a safe Halloween" takes on a new meaning with this report.

http://safecosmetics.org/downloads/PrettyScary_Oct2709.pdf

And as if you didn't have enough reasons to limit your child's candy consumption, read lower in the report where they talk about the FDA and the lead level limits for candy. Per this report, the FDA has set a level of .10 ppm in candy, not because that is the "safe" limit but because that is the lowest limit candy manufacturers can be reasonably expected to attain. Isn't that nice?! We aren't setting caps on toxins in our "food" (I use quotes because I don't really consider candy food but whatever) based on what the safety data is on these things but what is practical for the manufacturers to attain. Yet another reason to keep candy away from our kids, never mind the colors that are toxins as well, the sugar that jacks with their insulin production but we also have to worry about lead. No one really knows the long term effects of these metals in our kids' bodies. And most experts will at least agree that NO level of lead is safe.

No comments: