Yikes. The news reporting team at WTVD/ABC-11 in North Carolina launched an investigation into the ingredients in makeup specifically made and marketed for tweens and teens. The results of their research is distressing, as the they discovered Just Shine Shimmer Powder sold at Justice stores contained asbestos.
The WTVD/ABC-11 team was looking at the ingredients that aren't listed in teen-marketed cosmetic products and enlisted The Scientific Analytical Institute in Greensboro to conduct product tests.
According to the report, Director of Research and Analytical Service Sean Fitzgerald and his lab uncovered four heavy metals, such as Barium, Chromium, Lead, and Selenium, along with the asbestos, which has been known to cause cancer and is highly dangerous, in the product. Asbestos can have long-term that effects that take time to manifest when consumed and inhaled.
That information turns an ordinary shimmer powder into something deadly and poisonous!
Fitzgerald also warned that user "exposure to asbestos in this product" could lead to "an untimely death in their thirties or forties." How terrifying!
So, we know about the dangerous effects. But how, exactly, did this product come to contain asbestos?
According to Fitzgerald, the product contains a common ingredient in makeup — talc. Unfortunately, this "talc that was contaminated with asbestos that was used to manufacture a product." WTVD notes that the FDA is very clear that it's unacceptable to use cosmetic talc contaminated with asbestos.
He furthered, "Talc is a mineral, but it also forms in the earth with other minerals and some of those minerals are asbestos."
WTVD/ABC-11's report also points out that while Justice likely did not intentionally use contaminated talc, stricter testing methods should have been enacted, since asbestos is especially harmful to children who are still developing and growing.
"The problem is, it's not necessarily the manufacturer, there was no intent to put this in the talc, but they shouldn't have been using that reserve, because they should've tested it and known that that talc source was contaminated with asbestos," Fitzgerald said.
WTVD/ABC-11 tested other products, which did not return positive-for-asbestos results.
The retailer responded to the report by stopping the sale of the Just Shine Shimmer Powder and issued the following statement. Note the Just Shine product pictured above is not the one in question; that product is no longer available.
"Justice is committed to the safety and integrity of our products. Upon receiving the inquiry from WTVD, we immediately began an independent investigation. We cannot speculate regarding the matter until we have more information. Nonetheless, out of an abundance of caution, we have stopped the sale of this product while we investigate."
While the product has been removed, this report raise concerns about how safe cosmetic products are... or aren't.
Bustle has reached out for comment but has not heard back from Justice at the time of publication.
