By Lisa Wade McCormick
ConsumerAffairs.com
A brand of imported eyeliner used by many Middle Eastern and South Asian women and girls contains dangerous amounts of lead, Illinois officials warn.
Tests on Hashmi Surma Special black eyeliner revealed the product contained 710,000 parts per million lead (ppm), according to Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan.
To illustrate how high that amount is, consider children's toys cannot more than 300 ppm of lead under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.
This product is 70 percent lead and lead can be directly ingested through the eye, Madigan said, adding her office purchased the eyeliner earlier this month at a local retailer and tested it for lead. That is a very dangerous situation and we want to warn women and girls to protect themselves.
The Pakistan-based Hashmi Surma, however, touts the healing properties of its herbal eye-care products and claims they can alleviate such problems as dull and blurred vision.
Madigan cautions consumers not to fall for those marketing ploys. Hashmi Surma Special is marketed as a product that has medicinal properties that strengthen and protect the eyes, but the opposite is true, she said.
The attorney general said consumers who have Hashmi Surma Special eyeliner should:
• Immediately stop using the product;
• Put the remaining product in a sealable container or plastic bag;
• Immediately wash their hands and other body parts that come in contact with the product. Also wash exposed household surfaces with soap and hot water;
• Keep the product away from children;
• Do not discard the eyeliner by washing it down the sink or flushing it down the toilet. Instead, place the sealed product in the trash;
• Contact their health care provider with concerns about lead exposure from the product. A physician can test for lead poisoning.
Madigan said this type of eyeliner is used in regions of the Middle East and South Asia and is known as Suma, Kohl, or Kajal. "And it is believed to be the source of lead poisoning in a young child in New York, according to the New York State Department of Health, she said. Dangerous amounts of lead can lead to acute lead poisoning and possibly death.
The New York City Department of Healths Web site now has a special section that warns consumers about the high amounts of lead in some imported cosmetics, including Hashmi Surma Special.
Kohl, kajal and surma are eye cosmetics imported from Asia, Africa and the Middle East, the Web site states. Some of these products contain lead. Some people using these products have suffered lead poisoning.
The Web site adds: Recently, the New York City Health Department found the following products to be contaminated: Hashmi Surma Special, made in Pakistan, Hashmi Kajal, made in Pakistan, Hashmi Kohl Aswad, made in Pakistan, and Pure Kohl From the Waters of ZamZam."
ConsumerAffairs.com contacted Hashmi Surma about the amount of lead detected in the companys eyeliner during tests by the Illinois Attorney Generals Office. Hashmi Surma did not respond to our inquiry.
Consumers with questions or concerns about Hashmi Surma Special eyeliner -- or other dangerous or recalled products -- can contact Illinois Attorney General Madigans office at 1-888-414-7678.
Madigan said her office has tested hundreds of products of lead including toys, jewelry, bibs, and lunch boxes. The office enforces Illinois Lead Poisoning Prevention Act, which requires labels on childrens toys, jewelry and child care articles that contain more than 40 ppm of lead. The Act also states that any item used by the public that contains more than 600 ppm of lead must have a warning label.
