Lead can build up in the body and damage the nervous system and brain, kidneys and other major organs. There is no known safe level of lead, which can cause learning and behavior problems, seizures and death. Children are especially vulnerable because they absorb the toxin more easily, are still developing and often put their hands or objects that can be contaminated with lead in their mouths.
Born in the United States to Nigerian parents, the Massachusetts boy received tiro from a grandparent who had purchased the black powder from a street vendor in Kwara State, Nigeria. Similar products are used in other parts of Africa, Asia and the Middle East, and are known in different languages as "kohl," "surma," "kajal," "tozali" and "kwalli."
In Nigeria, tiro is generally used on infants and by women for both cosmetic and medicinal purposes, Dr. Abdulsalami Nasidi, project director of the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control, said in an email. The product is used to cleanse eyes, beautify eyelids and improve eyesight.
In the United States, the Food and Drug Administration and various state and local health departments have published warnings about such products, most often identified as kohl or surma. Still, cosmetics are a little-known source of possible lead exposure, said Lisa Archer, campaign director of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, which has conducted tests that found lead in lipsticks.
"People just don't know -- they don't know that cosmetics could be dangerous," she said. "They think that somebody's watching the aisle in the store, and in reality, that's just not the case."
It's unknown how widespread the use of tiro and similar products is in California. The California Department of Public Health estimates that cosmetics are involved in less than 5 percent of childhood lead poisoning cases in the state, according to a statement provided to California Watch by Dr. Rick Kreutzer, chief of the California Department of Public Health's environmental and occupational disease control division.
Some eyeliners and shadows use the word "kohl" to describe their black coloring but do not actually contain kohl; the FDA advises consumers to avoid products that do not list approved color additives in their ingredients.
Real kohl is illegal in the United States. But unlike the Consumer Product Safety Commission, which can issue mandatory recalls of lead-tainted toys and jewelry, the FDA does not have recall authority over cosmetics.
California's Safe Cosmetics Program requires commercial vendors of cosmetics to report products that contain any amount of certain chemicals, including lead, that are known to cause cancer, or reproductive or developmental harm. But even if a vendor reports that a cosmetic contains harmful ingredients, the state cannot ban the product's sale, Kreutzer said.
The program has not received any reports of eye cosmetics containing lead, Kreutzer said. And among cases of childhood lead poisoning in California involving surma, which date back to 1993, none stemmed from commercial cosmetics. Surma and products like it are often brought into the country by individuals.
The Massachusetts case is "an example of the bigger problem where cosmetics are virtually unregulated in this country," Archer said. Still, she said, "even if we had the best laws in the world, it might be challenging to keep this stuff out of people's homes."
