The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said Friday it would investigate recent claims from a consumer rights group that certain lipsticks contain high levels of lead but specified that similar claims in the past have not been confirmed.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics issued a news release Thursday saying 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 two thirds of the products tested contained potentially high levels of lead, the group said, urging producers to take measures and make safer products.

The Food and Drug Administration replied to these claims Friday, saying it will initiate an investigation. The agency added that similar claims had been made in the past without being confirmed.

“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,” Stephanie Kwisnek, a spokeswoman for the FDA, said.

“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.”

In its report about lipsticks containing lead, released last month, the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics said 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 FDA’s 0.1 ppm limit for lead in candy, a standard set to protect children from directly ingesting lead, the group said.

The coalition noted that the Food and Drug Administration has not set a similar standard for lead levels in lipstick. None of the lipsticks listed lead as an ingredient, the CSC noted.

“It's critical that manufacturers reformulate their product,” Stacy Malkan, a co-founder of the coalition, said in a news release. “It's possible to make lipsticks without lead, and all companies should be doing that.”

She said 39 percent of the lipsticks tested showed no detectable levels of lead.

The Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association trade group issued a statement saying that lead is not deliberately included as an ingredient in lipstick but is rather a naturally occurring element.

“Consumers are exposed daily to lead when they eat, drink water and breathe the air,” said John Bailey, an executive vice president at the Cosmetic, Toiletry and Fragrance Association.

“The average amount of lead a woman would be exposed to when using cosmetics is 1,000 times less than the amount she would get from eating, breathing, and drinking water that meets Environmental Protection Agency drinking water standards.”

The group said that less expensive brands such as Revlon had no detectable levels of lead, while the more expensive Dior Addict brand had higher levels than some other brands. Two L’Oreal lipsticks appear among the top brands testing positive for lead, followed by one Cover Girl lipstick and a Dior Addict product.

The group’s statement specifies that lead has been proven to cause “learning, language and behavioral problems such as lowered IQ, reduced school performance and increased aggression.” Pregnant women and children are particularly at risk, the group said, adding that lead has also been linked to infertility and miscarriage.