Testing Of Lipsticks And Hair Dyes

Tests of budget-price lipsticks and hair dyes have shown no dangers to public health.

The reports were done by Massey University’s Centre for Public Health Research on behalf of the Ministry of Health.

Concerns had been raised that both product lines might contain substances exceeding the levels set by the Cosmetic Products Group Standard, under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms (HSNO) Act.

90 hair dye products were bought from 51 stores, and 373 lipsticks, from 133 stores.

The hair dyes were tested for three types of phenylenediamines, two of which are not permitted – and one, para-phenylenediamine, which is permitted to be present at concentrations up to 6 per cent.

None of the hair dyes breached the standards of 6% that applied at the time the survey was carried out. However 9 of the 90 would exceed the new lower 2% limit for para-phenylenediamine, which took effect in November 2011.

Lipsticks were tested for heavy metals, which are prohibited in cosmetics beyond trace levels caused in manufacturing.

33 of the 359 colour lipsticks samples had detectable levels of leachable cadmium, chromium and lead – but these were all below any level of health concern.

The reports are available on the Massey University Centre for Public Health Research website: www.cphr.massey.ac.nz.

Background
The Environmental Protection Authority issued the Cosmetic Products Group Standard, which sets the standards for composition and labelling of cosmetics including lipsticks and hair dyes. The Ministry of Health and the Department of Labour are enforcement agencies under the Hazardous Substances and New Organisms Act 1996. The Department of Labour is the lead enforcement agency, as it is responsible for enforcing the Act at places of work. The Ministry of Health is responsible for enforcing the Act to protect public health.