A recent article in the New York Post highlights the dangers of children playing with toy makeup and cosmetics.
Toy aisles across stores in the US may contain lip balm, makeup, and nail kits targeted toward children in the age group of 4 to 14.
A study has found that children who are younger than 12 use make-up like products that are designed for play such as lip gloss, face paint, and glitter.
The study found that 54% of the children use the toy makeup at least once per month while 12% of the children use the makeup daily.
In addition, 20% of the children may have the products on their skin for eight hours or more while some may even accidentally consume the products.
As far back as 2016, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has found that children's cosmetics have been contaminated by heavy metals such as lead and cadmium.
The Breast Cancer Fund has reported that face paints may contain various other heavy metals such as arsenic, chromium, and mercury. Face paints could contain anywhere from one heavy metal to as much as 4 different heavy metals.
Toy aisles marked with shampoos and lotions for kids may also contain styrene based chemicals or fragrances. The side effects of such chemicals are reproductive toxicity, endocrine disruption, and cancer.
Scientists found that the labels on the products made no mention of any of these chemicals.
Children are at higher risk to toxins in makeup than adults because they are smaller, can grow rapidly, plus their organs and tissues are still developing and their immune systems are immature.
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