The US Food and Drug Administration said it will investigate the claims made on Thursday by the consumer rights group the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, according to which certain lipsticks contain potentially dangerous levels of lead.

"These concerns have not generally been supported by FDA's own analysis of products on the market. In the present case, we are looking into the specific details of the issues raised," said Stephanie Kwisnek, a spokeswoman at the FDA for AP. "We will need to confirm the factual basis of these reports independently in order to determine what action, if any, may be needed to protect public health."

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics said on Thursday that it had conducted tests, through an independent laboratory, of 33 brand-name lipsticks, including L’Oreal, Cover Girl, Christian Dior and Revlon.
The results showed that 61 percent of the lipsticks tested contained detectable levels of lead of 0.03 to 0.65 parts per million (ppm).

One-third of the tested lipsticks exceeded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 0.1 ppm limit for lead in candy, a standard set to protect children from directly ingesting lead, the group said.