Aesha Mokashi



Project title: An Investigation of Lead in Traditional Eyeliners: An Important Source of Lead Exposure in Resettled Populations in King County, Washington

Degree: MS (Thesis) | Project type: Thesis/Dissertation
Completed in: 2024 | Faculty advisor: Diana Ceballos

Abstract:

Traditional eyeliners have been known to contain high concentrations of lead, a neurotoxic metal. In King County, Washington USA, several refugee, and immigrant populations continue to use these products on young children. Lead is toxic, even at low levels, especially in young children where it can cause neurological defects and growth delays. We investigated lead in eyeliners used by these communities, including traditional and nontraditional eyeliners, to determine eyeliner characteristics that resulted in higher lead concentrations. We also assessed and optimized Public Health- Seattle and King County’s (PHSKC) current X-ray Fluorescence (XRF) analysis methods for cosmetic lead screening. We found that traditional eyeliners contained significantly greater median lead concentrations (10 ppm) than nontraditional ones (0.06 ppm), and eyeliners made in the United States and Europe had significantly lower median lead concentrations (0.94 ppm) than those made in Afghanistan (29 ppm) and other low- and middle-income countries (2.8 ppm). For eyeliner screening, we found that the current PHSKC XRF method is adequate for screening, although it overestimated lead concentrations in eyeliners. The XRF Soil method we developed may measure lead in eyeliners closer to the laboratory-derived values than the current method, but it requires further validation. Some “lead-free” labeled traditional eyeliners contained dangerously high lead concentrations (up to 610,000 ppm) well above the FDA guideline of 10 ppm and WA safety guideline of 1 ppm. Our findings suggest that traditional eyeliners being used in the United States are still produced with hazardous materials.