Body News.

Body News

Skin-Protection Drink Green and black teas have been shown to prevent skin cancer in mice (whether they're ingested or applied in extract form to the skin), but a new study is one of the first to confirm this link in people. Epidemiologists from Dartmouth Medical School surveyed 1,466 people with nonmelanoma skin cancer and 715 people of similar ages who had not developed the disease about their lifelong tea-drinking habits. Daily tea consumption was associated with a 20 to 30 percent decrease in skin cancer risk; the participants who had been drinking tea the longest or who had at least two cups per day showed even greater protection. The researchers could not pinpoint the type of tea responsible, but both green and black teas contain antioxidants that help fight UV-induced damage, says the lead investigator, Judy Rees. Tea did not appear to protect people who had gotten multiple sunburns, she adds, so sun protection remains paramount.

Lipstick Scare

A recent report of lead in several lipsticks left many women alarmed -- yet confused about just how alarmed they should be. In fact, the danger is negligible, according to William I. Manton, professor of geosciences at the University of Texas at Dallas, who has studied lead exposure. When the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics ordered an independent test of 33 lipsticks, 61 percent had discernible lead (results are at safecosmetics.org). There should be none, since "it's obviously possible to make a lead-free lipstick," says spokeswoman Stacy Malkan, author of Not Just a Pretty Face: The Ugly Side of the Beauty Industry (New Society Publishers). Still, Manton says the level found does not pose a significant risk, even for pregnant women and children. Though the lead content of some lipsticks was greater than the FDA limit ...