No one likes to think about really serious stuff at Halloween, but some things are just too serious not to mention. For instance, did you know that nearly one-third of all face paints contain chemicals linked to breast cancer? This information has recently been reported by Yahoo News.

It’s true. The search and media website noted that a newly released report by the Breast Cancer Fund found that the potentially harmful chemicals included possible carcinogens, with two of them linked to breast cancer.

In conducting its study, the BCF sent 48 different Halloween face paints to an independent laboratory in order to have them tested for the presence of heavy metals. Some of the face paints contained up to four separate heavy metals including arsenic, lead, mercury, cadmium and chromium.

Nearly half of the face paints contained trace amounts of at least one heavy metal.Paints with darker pigmentation were more likely to contain heavy metals, the study found, and at higher concentrations.

Here are some more specifics contained in the report and why these findings should concern you if you or your children are considering using face paint this year:

Lead and cadmium: Really, no level of lead is considered to be ‘safe,’ but nevertheless, lead was discovered in almost one-fifth of the face paints that were tested. Cadmium was found in nearly one-third of face paints (30 percent). The presence of excessive lead can cause learning disabilities and developmental problems, while cadmium has been tied to cancers of the breast, kidney, lung and prostate.

Ethoxylated ingredients: Almost 30 percent of face paints tested contained these elements. They are capable of producing a pair of toxic contaminants — ethylene oxide and 1,4-dioxane — that have been linked to breast cancer and other diseases.

Touline: This reproductive toxin was discovered in almost 11 percent of the products that were examined. Exposure to toluene has been tied to damage of the liver and kidneys, the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) says.

Parabens: At least one of the endocrine disruptors was found in more than one-third of the makeup samples that were laboratory-tested.

Formaldehyde: This known human carcinogen was discovered in 3 percent of face paint, which is still a high number considering its toxicity.

At present, Yahoo News reported, the cosmetics industry is largely unregulated. And though it is overseen by the Food and Drug Administration, it is an industry that is considered to be “FDA-regulated,” not “FDA-approved.” So none of the industry’s products have to actually be approved by FDA officials before they can be sold.

Obviously, that includes the face paints you may have been planning to use to scare people this Halloween.

Sources:

Yahoo.com

SafeCosmetics.org

OSHA.gov