A 2003 scare-o-gram falsely claiming that lead contamination in lipsticks can be detected by scratching the products with a gold ring continues to circulate via social media, now with the addition of a visual aid (see above) purporting to show a cancerous mouth tumor.
In reality, it's a cold sore.
Viral misinformation aside, laboratory tests have shown that many name-brand lipsticks do, in fact, contain trace amounts of lead. But while cosmetics safety advocates say that's unacceptable and lobby for changes in the formulation of such products, the FDA and other government agencies insist the detected levels of lead are too small to pose a health hazard, leaving consumers in a familiar quandary.
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