Halloween is just around the corner, and some parents are wondering about the safety of their children — and not just as it relates to sugar and cavities. They are inquiring about possible toxic ingredients in face paints and powders that children use to costume themselves.
As part of a 2016 investigation by The Breast Cancer Fund, arsenic, cadmium, chromium, and lead were found in Halloween face paint kits. Asbestos was found in those kits by the Environmental Working Group in 2020.
That has consumer advocates warning people to be careful.
”Unlike its oversight of food and drugs, the FDA has very little power to regulate the safety of cosmetic ingredients,” Lauren Kirchner, an employee with the nonprofit consumer group Consumer Reports, told WFMY. “The agency surveys products that are already on the market but don’t approve of their safety before.”
Kirchner warned that even small exposure to some toxins can be hazardous.
”Lead affects brain development, asbestos is a carcinogen, and cadmium is an endocrine disruptor linked to certain cancers and other health problems,” she said, citing a few concerns.
Kirchner offers a few helpful tips.
If your child wants to dress up as something that requires a lot of face paint, avoid those with the darkest pigments because the Breast Cancer Fund study found those to contain a higher concentration of heavy metals. Consumer Reports also suggests avoiding store-bought face paints altogether, as there are lots of DIY makeup recipes online that use face moisturizer, cornstarch, and natural coloring, so you’ll know exactly what’s on your child’s skin.
