It has not been a particularly good year for tampons. In May, Tampax issued a weak-sauce response to their product being noticeably smaller, despite no change in labeling or price. Well, the latest tampon news may make you glad that they’re smaller: a new study has examined tampons from the US, UK, and Greece — three countries that currently have regulations on absorbency, but none requiring companies to test for harmful chemicals and metals (yet) — and found the presence of 16 heavy metals in tampons from 14 different brands. Which brands? The researchers aren’t naming them (yet), but they have identified all 16 metals for us, in a list that includes lead, arsenic, and mercury. Experts say it’s too early to abandon tampons altogether, because it’s unclear if they have any negative health effects.
The study and its results: According to a study published in the journal Environment International in June, researchers found “several toxic metals,” including lead and arsenic, across 14 brands of tampons. But experts say you shouldn’t toss the menstrual products just yet. “We know the metals are there, but we don’t know how much gets into the body,” Jamie Alan, Ph.D., an associate professor of pharmacology and toxicology at Michigan State University, tells Women’s Health. … Researchers analyzed materials from 18 product lines from 14 brands of tampons. They picked from products listed as “top sellers” from an online retailer and store-brand versions from New York City, Athens, Greece and London. Researchers then measured the presence of 16 metals, all of which were found in measurable traces. “Several toxic metals,” including lead, were detected.
More than just lead: The study also found “measurable concentrations” of arsenic, barium, calcium, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, mercury, nickel, selenium, strontium, vanadium, and zinc, too. “We detected all 16 metals in at least one sampled tampon, including some toxic metals like lead, that has no ‘safe’ exposure level,” the study says. Unfortunately, the study didn’t name which brands of tampons they researched, only noting that the tampons are available in the United States, United Kingdom, and Greece. The researchers pointed out “nonexistent” regulations in those countries don’t require companies to test their products for harmful chemicals or metals.
Et tu, organic tampons? The researchers discovered that levels of lead were higher in non-organic tampons, while levels of arsenic were higher in organic tampons. “No category had consistently lower concentrations of all or most metals,” the study says. This isn’t great news, since researchers also noted that the vagina has more permeable skin than other parts of the body. That skin allows it to absorb chemicals that “directly enter systemic circulation.”
DON’T PANIC: The University of California, Berkeley press release notes that “it’s unclear if the metals detected by this study are contributing to any negative health effects.” Christine Greves, M.D., an ob-gyn at the Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women and Babies in Orlando, Florida, adds that you shouldn’t panic based on the results of one study. Dr. Alan agrees. “We are exposed to these metals every day and we even need some of these metals, like zinc, for our body to function,” she tells Women’s Health. It’s important to point out that even the study’s researchers tell tampon users “not to panic.”
More research is needed: Jenni Shearston, Ph.D., M.P.H., the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral scholar at the University of California Berkeley School of Public Health, nots that “we do not yet know if metals can leach out of the tampon and whether they are absorbed by the body. We therefore cannot yet assess to what extent (if any) metals in tampons contribute to any health problems,” she tells Women’s Health. “We definitely need more research on this severely understudied area, especially because millions of people could be affected.”
Here’s where I’m struggling: how can the statement “no safe exposure level for lead,” coexist with “it’s unclear if the metals detected by this study are contributing to any negative health effects,” without one negating the other? Because that is what’s being communicated here. The critical issue seems to be whether the metals are leaching out of the tampons and making contact with our bodies. At this point, the researchers can’t conclusively determine if the metals are getting under our skin. So, what do we do in the interim? Cross our fingers and pray that the item we’re sticking in our vaginas isn’t also poisoning us? Or, heaven help us, are we to take a tip from Candy Spelling and resurrect the sanitary belt, pending more data?
Photos via Instagram/Tampax/Kotex/O.B.
Dr, Jen Gunter has written about this. “Scaring women about their bodies is profitable and allows influencers to hide behind a veneer of caring. Reassurance? Not so good for page clicks.” In essence, there’s more lead in a bottle of water. (See link below for Gunter’s article on Substack.)
Please take the time to read analysis by experts like Dr. Jen Gunter rather than passing along information that is click-bait “wellness” information. There are groups of people in this country who are desperate to take down abortion, birth control, and even the ability to wear tampons. These people hate women and hate vaginas.
https://vajenda.substack.com/p/reassuring-info-about-lead-and-tampons
It’s a good thing that people like Dr Jen Gunter or the team at Science-Based Medicine exist, to counter scaremongers like the Environmental Working Group.
That said, people need to realize that everything that is in soil will find its way into our bodies, be it via water, or food.
Maybe we should start there, and remember, while organic is good, it’s not necessarily better, as they allowed the use of e.g. copper sulphate as a herbicide, fungicide and algaecide for decades. It’s a forever chemical and doesn’t break down in soil in any way, meaning those areas are poisoned, organic farms or not.
So many things, be it food or crop plants for e.g. fabrics, need investigating.
Good of Kismet to bring it here though, so we can discuss it.
If I were still menstruating and planning a family, I would switch to a different product such as Diva Cup, or organic tampons which are tested for metals. Back in the day I used a natural sponge for a while. It’s messy but it works. Would rather deal with bloody fingers than increased blood levels of toxic metals that could harm my future children.
Coming from the era when teens died from toxic shock syndrome I never felt like it was healthy to constantly wear tampons for a full week. I would wear them during waking hours, but nighttime would be a pad or later after I discovered them the sponges. I did try using the cup, but by that time I was in perimenopause and the massive amounts and unpredictable timing of the blood made struggling with those little cups a non-starter. Menopause finally arriving has been heavenly freedom.
they can’t though. Unless you are read to stop drinking water that has more lead content than any tampon you have ever used.
Heavy metals in highly absorbable material in extremely close proximity to a large network of capillaries and veins inserted into the vagina – yes highly dangerous hence why doctors will often use vaginal pessaries for medications.
Please read what Dr. Jen Gunter has written about this. Please.
I switched to menstrual cups after my kids were born, ten years ago, and it’s the best thing ever. Easier than tampons (for me), no waste, comfortable. June is an excellent company that’s very affordable, diva cups didn’t fit me well. There’s also excellent social media accounts that compare them and talk about use. I wish I’d been using them this whole time. It took me one cycle to figure them out, well worth it.
Thank you to SciLies for the factual response to this scary sounding info.
This is a difficult one right? I mean we want the convenience of tampons but we don’t want any chemicals or metals or whatever entering our bodies that could make us unwell.
Pay attention to any recalls; I know from experience-about 5 or six years ago Kotex had a voluntary recall on their tampons I disregarded it as it said “voluntary “and used from a box I had.One morning I awoke and couldn’t find the tampon, ended up in the ER and found out from the nurse practitioner that the tampon had broken apart inside me and she had to pick it out in pieces with forceps.
My daughter had been recently dealing with a series of yeast infections and we finally ended up at the dermatologist who told her that it was her Always panty liners that can cause severe irritation to women and this has been “known “since 1998.She went on another treatment for the yeast and immediately stopped using those liners. Zero recurrence of yeast or irritation.
Just try to stay informed and never be embarrassed to ask questions.💕
I’m wondering if a similar study on pads would have the same results?
Menstrual underwear is what a lot of younger people are using nowadays, but it’s has some work to it.
Dr. Jen Gunter has written about period underwear.
https://vajenda.substack.com/p/should-i-be-worried-about-toxic-chemicals
I had to look this up because the article doesn’t say why this is happening. Evidently, it’s because the cotton and rayon used have absorbed the heavy metals from the soil and water when being cultivated. So, I imagine this presence of heavy metals would be true of many other items made of cotton and/or rayon, including pads. The difference is that absorption is more likely in the vagina.
Looks like we need to investigate the growing process, too.
Here’s another reliable doctor responding to this study.
https://www.instagram.com/p/C9SHohdRA8L/?igsh=cWZxb2lveHYxMHJj