Averi Beck and Justice Collins
Independent Research
Lethal Lipstick
Bio
Averi is a student from Harper Creek High School. In the fall she will be attending Loyola University of Chicago where she will be studying biomedical engineering in the honors program. Averi is a hair dye enthusiast and enjoys utilizing it constantly. Her hair has been pink, red, and gray… but those are all sooo last month. She is a proud cat mom and an avid thespian. Averi's favorite memory from the math and science center is the day that the nerds took on Chicago; the city will never be the same.
Bio
Justice Collins is a 4 year Math and Science Center student and a senior at Lakeview. She plans to attend the James Madison College at Michigan State University in the fall to study global public health and political policy. Justice enjoys frequently watching Parks and Rec and injuring herself during lacrosse practice (tip: the stairs are always faster). Justice attributes her many academic accomplishments at the Center to mozzarella sticks and cute dogs.
Abstract
Since the promising results of the first lead in lipstick study by this research group, there has been a need to increase the testing and delve deeper into studying how much lead is in lipstick. Especially in lipstick brands that have been flagged in the past by other studies as having much higher levels of this toxin. As was done in last years testing, all sample lipsticks were of similar shades of red, with exception to the Carmex samples, a subject that will be discussed later. A total of 6 lipsticks, Revlon, Maybelline, L’oreal, Pixie, Burt's Bees, and ELF, and one lip balm, Carmex, were decided to be tested, with three tubes of lipstick for each brand in order to make the results statistically sound. Ten samples of ~.3 grams were cut from each tube of lipstick, added to 40 ml beakers were they were then dissolved in heated 25% nitric acid, filtered into a 100ml volumetric flask, and filled up to the 100 ml mark with distilled water. The samples were then run through the atomic absorption spectrophotometer (AAS) at a wavelength of 217 nm to detect for lead. After examining at the data it was determined that the Carmex contained the most lead, with Revlon containing the least.
Averi and Justice will be presenting in Duncan C at 8:00 AM, Averi will be presenting solo in room 206 at 10:06 AM