--- title: FDA Aims to Limit Lead Levels in Lipstick, Other Cosmetics description: The Food and Drug Administration released draft guidelines Wednesday aimed at regulating lead levels in lipstick and other cosmetic products canonical: https://time.com/4614134/fda-lead-cosmetic-guidance/ author: Katie Reilly article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2016-12-22T00:18:01.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T02:26:17.733Z article:section: Health og:title: The FDA Wants to Limit Lead Levels in Lipstick, Other Cosmetics og:description: The guidance applies to lipstick, eye shadow, blush and more og:url: https://time.com/4614134/fda-lead-cosmetic-guidance/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: The FDA Wants to Limit Lead Levels in Lipstick, Other Cosmetics twitter:description: The guidance applies to lipstick, eye shadow, blush and more twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # FDA Aims to Limit Lead Levels in Lipstick, Other Cosmetics  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Dec 22, 2016 12:18 AM UTC  by [Katie Reilly](https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/)  ## Katie Reilly Dec 22, 2016 12:18 AM UTC The Food and Drug Administration [released draft guidelines](http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocuments/ucm517327.htm) Wednesday aimed at regulating lead levels in lipstick and other cosmetic products. The agency recommended a maximum lead level of 10 parts per million (ppm) in certain cosmetics, including lipstick, lip gloss, eye shadow, blush and body lotion. The guidance does not apply to “topically applied products” that are drugs or hair dyes, the agency said. “We consider the recommended maximum lead level to be achievable with the use of good manufacturing practices and to be consistent with the 10 ppm maximum lead level for similar products recommended by other countries,” the [FDA wrote](http://www.fda.gov/Cosmetics/GuidanceRegulation/GuidanceDocuments/ucm517327.htm). The agency noted that lead can appear as an impurity in cosmetic ingredients due to its “background presence” in the manufacturing environment. “In our surveys, which do not necessarily reflect the full range of products that are currently on the market, a small number of samples had lead levels that exceed the maximum level we are recommending,” the agency said. “Our goal is to ensure that cosmetic lip products and externally applied cosmetics do not contain lead as an impurity at levels that would pose a health risk.” ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4614134/fda-lead-cosmetic-guidance/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4614134/fda-lead-cosmetic-guidance/"},"headline":"FDA Aims to Limit Lead Levels in Lipstick, Other Cosmetics","datePublished":"2016-12-22T00:18:01.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T02:26:17.733Z","description":"The guidance applies to lipstick, eye shadow, blush and more","url":"https://time.com/4614134/fda-lead-cosmetic-guidance/","keywords":["beauty","health","onetime"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Katie Reilly","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/katie-reilly/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/beauty/","name":"beauty"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4614134/fda-lead-cosmetic-guidance/","name":"FDA Aims to Limit Lead Levels in Lipstick, Other Cosmetics"}}]}] ```