Thereās something more frightening than the kid-sized vampires, witches, and skeletons who will prowl the streets this Halloween: the paint on their faces.
Sen. Charles Schumer called out the FDA earlier this week for its lax regulations regarding face paints, which have been found to contain traces of spooky chemicals. āWhen it comes to the kind of makeup our kids slather on at Halloween, lead, nickel, and cobalt do not belong,ā Schumer said in a press release, āand so I am urging the FDA to unmask the ingredients that are often left off of the packaging.ā
Mother Jones reports:
Weāve known for years that some face paints include troubling ingredients. In 2009, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, a consumer advocacy group, tested 10 face paints on the market in the United States and found that all of them contained lead, while six contained high levels of skin allergens like nickel, cobalt, and chromium.
Cosmetics that contain lead are banned in Canada and Europe. In the United States, though, weāre making it too easy for children to get an unhealthy dose of lead. Since face paints arenāt intended for consumption, they donāt require FDA approval before they reach store shelves (though the FDA does test color additives, including those found in face paints). The responsibility for ensuring cosmetics are safe falls largely on manufacturers ā often Chinese, Schumer points out.
As a result, face paints can contain toxic chemicals that are absorbed through the skin, or even worse, accidentally ingested. This is a problem, since according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, āno safe blood lead level in children has been identified,ā and ālead exposure can affect nearly every system in the body.ā
But if youāre hoping to create that classic cadaverous look on your childās ruddy cheeks this Halloween, there are ways to avoid the ghastliest of face paints. Check your paintsā ingredients to make sure theyāre on the list of FDA-approved color additives. Even better, invest in some alternative non-toxic face paints.
If you canāt get your hands on some lead-free paint, though, you and your kid might want to consider going au naturel this Halloween.
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