DENVER -- Witches and ghosts are not the only scary things this Halloween. Many of the face paints your children will use to dress up contain harmful lead and other heavy metals that could make them sick.

"It would be the equivalent of putting lead dust on their face for makeup," said Lead Inspector and Risk Assessor Neil Staples.

Staples, who owns Black Bear Inspections, used an XRF gun to detect lead and other metals in face paint samples purchased by Call7 Investigator Theresa Marchetta.

The device uses X-ray fluorescence to detect metals and other elements.

"These three colors contain lead. I wouldn't want that around my child's eyes, their mucus membranes, their nose. They just absorb it so readily," Staples said.

Staples found lead in more than half the Halloween makeup samples Marchetta purchased from Denver area stores.

Those samples that contained lead included "Carnival Colors" by Rubies, "Touch of France" by Fun World, "Neon Yellow" by Forum, both purchased at a seasonal Halloween store, two Walmart makeup kits and a Target "Pirate Makeup Kit."

"The black and the red are both leaded. It's toxic," Staples said while testing the makeup.

"This red is hot for lead," he said, moving on to the next sample.

Six out of 10 samples Marchetta purchased tested positive for lead.

"There's actually no safe level of lead exposure. Lead has no benefits for the body. It's purely a poison," said Dr. Richard Ort, a dermatologist.

Ort said another independent test on face paint done by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics has him concerned.

It found lead in every children's face paint sample tested.

"Lead toxicity is worse in children," Ort said, "They can have learning disabilities, personality problems, increased aggression and decreased intelligence with very small amounts of lead exposure in early life."

More than half the samples tested in the Safe Cosmetics study also contained nickel, cobalt and chromium, metals known to cause skin allergies.

"If you have a rash on your face from nickel that's an obvious thing we as dermatologists might see in the office," said Ort. "Any additional exposure such as face paint could increase the risk."

Marchetta found warnings on the backs of some of the makeup she purchased.

The small print warns users not to put certain colors near eyes and lips.

Some packages make empty claims the makeup is "hypoallergenic," a meaningless term coined by the industry to imply safety.

Dr. Ort said even if you read the warnings, what you see may not be what you get.

"What's troublesome is these companies are not required to list whether there are toxic metals or lead in these products. The regulations are pretty lax. Even if they know there's lead in there, they're not required to list that. That is troubling," Ort said.

Ort does not think parents should panic, but rather be cautious when using these types of makeup on children.

"Once a year is going to be lower (risk) than if it's every week," he said.

He recommends if parents do use the face paint on their children that they avoid putting it on cuts or sores, keep it away from the mouth, nose and eyes, and keep it away from young children who may ingest it.

These types of cosmetics are currently banned in Europe and Canada.

For more information on the Safe Cosmetics study and recipes for safe face paint alternatives, SafeCosmetics.