The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has documented a report on new product tests and found that some children's face paints contain lead which is a neurotoxin capable of causing harm to the brain if used in small doses.

Some of the laboratory tests of paints, labeled "non-toxic" and "hypoallergenic", confirmed the presence of heavy metals like nickel, cobalt and chromium which are skin allergens.

The labels on the paints do not mention the presence of these metals which makes it impossible for parents to know whether the paints are safe for their children or not.

The way to find out whether a product contains lead is to test it in the laboratory which was done by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics for this report at a cost of $270.00 per sample.

Lisa Archer, national coordinator of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics at the Breast Cancer Fund and a co-author of the report said, "Parents should not have to worry that face paint contains lead and other hazardous substances."

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics used an independent laboratory to test 10 face paints easily available in stores and on the Internet.

It was found that all the 10 face paint products contained lead and six out of 10 had known skin allergens which included nickel, cobalt or chromium.

The FDA has said that if parents want to use face paints for kids on Halloween then they should follow directions carefully, consider a test of the face paint few days prior to Halloween and not use the face paint if it smells bad.