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You don't just put on lipsticks, you also eat them, so to speak.
If you put make-up on your lips every day, you will eat up to five pencils a year - or 57 milligrams of paint a day, writes Stiftung Warentest in its magazine “test”.
It relates to worst case calculations by the Scientific Committee for Consumer Safety of the EU Commission.
The foundation found the lightening color pigment titanium dioxide in all of the 17 lipsticks tested in the price range between four and 38 euros.
It is also contained in pens that are sold as natural cosmetics.
If the substance is swallowed regularly, a mutagenic effect cannot be ruled out.
The genetic material of cells could be damaged, possibly even cancer.
Titanium dioxide was considered harmless for a long time.
However, the European Food Safety Authority (Efsa) came to the conclusion in May 2021 that titanium dioxide as an additive in food can no longer be classified as safe.
Titanium dioxide and mineral oil components
Consumers can recognize whether titanium dioxide is contained in lipstick by the code »CI 77891«, which is often supplemented by »Titanium Dioxide«. It is currently still mixed in with many lipsticks on the market, says Thomas Koppmann, project manager of the test. With the reassessment of Efsa something will change quickly, he estimates.
Not only should lipsticks have the right color, but also care and shine - this is what manufacturers add mineral oil components to.
Stiftung Warentest also rates these as critical, because they could accumulate in organs and tissues.
Although the health consequences are still unclear, Efsa assesses the amount that people already ingest through food as "potentially worrying".
These substances and similar synthetic hydrocarbons are generally prohibited in certified natural cosmetics.
Mineral oil components, which are also referred to as mosh ingredients (Mineral Oil Saturated Hydrocarbons), are listed on the product packaging as petrolatum, ozokerite, cera microcristallina or paraffin, for example.
In the test, none of the lipsticks considered scored "good". The testers hardly had anything to complain about in terms of coverage and care for any of the test candidates. The testers rated two pens as defective due to the increased mosh content. The rest of them got a "satisfactory" rating. "From the point of view of precautionary consumer protection, we do not recommend lipstick in the test unreservedly," says the test result.
The foundation asked the manufacturers of the two products rated as defective why they "use such critical ingredients".
The answer: You complied with the requirements of the European Cosmetics Association, according to which lipsticks may contain a maximum of five percent short-chain mosh in the mineral oil content.
Stiftung Warentest assesses the situation differently than the association: "As long as it is not certain what consequences accumulations have in the body, we consider them to be questionable," it says in "test" about the increased mosh content in the lipsticks tested.
wbr / dpa