Thanks for this explanation - I follow a couple of those insta accounts that are critical of clean beauty and they are sometimes helpful but the tone of "Come ON guys, this is REGULATED, wake UP!" really annoys me. What you say about cumulative exposure makes so much sense.
I followed the FDA link and am confused. They write that they tested "hundreds" of lip products and found lead levels from below detectable to 7 ppm (and up to 14 ppm in applied cosmetics generally). They also say "Our data show that over 99% of the cosmetic lip products and externally applied cosmetics on the U.S. market contain lead at levels below 10 ppm" and "We have issued guidance to industry on limiting lead as an impurity in cosmetic lip products and externally applied cosmetics to a maximum of 10 ppm." I read this as saying not that 99% have lead, but that possibly they ALL have lead (??) but 99% are under the recommended "maximum" level. Does what you point out about cumulative exposure mean that even those levels are not acceptable? Can we believe the FDA that 99% are below at least that level even though they don't actually regulate it? The anti clean beauty influencers often say something along the lines of "EVERYTHING has tiny trace amounts of potentially harmful things, it's all about levels" - so is it a matter of researching every contaminate and understanding your own possible risk level?
Thanks for this explanation - I follow a couple of those insta accounts that are critical of clean beauty and they are sometimes helpful but the tone of "Come ON guys, this is REGULATED, wake UP!" really annoys me. What you say about cumulative exposure makes so much sense.
I followed the FDA link and am confused. They write that they tested "hundreds" of lip products and found lead levels from below detectable to 7 ppm (and up to 14 ppm in applied cosmetics generally). They also say "Our data show that over 99% of the cosmetic lip products and externally applied cosmetics on the U.S. market contain lead at levels below 10 ppm" and "We have issued guidance to industry on limiting lead as an impurity in cosmetic lip products and externally applied cosmetics to a maximum of 10 ppm." I read this as saying not that 99% have lead, but that possibly they ALL have lead (??) but 99% are under the recommended "maximum" level. Does what you point out about cumulative exposure mean that even those levels are not acceptable? Can we believe the FDA that 99% are below at least that level even though they don't actually regulate it? The anti clean beauty influencers often say something along the lines of "EVERYTHING has tiny trace amounts of potentially harmful things, it's all about levels" - so is it a matter of researching every contaminate and understanding your own possible risk level?
Thanks so much for your work!