As if we don’t have enough to worry about, a new study has discovered the presence of toxic metals in popular tampon brands.
In the study — which came out in the August issue of Environmental International and is the first of its kind to assess concentrations of metals in tampons — environmental epidemiologists at UC Berkeley, Columbia University, and Michigan State University tested 30 different tampons across 14 brands for 16 types of metals. Researchers did not disclose what brands they tested, but noted in the study that they were top sellers and included name brands, store brands, and both organic and non-organic products, and were purchased at retailers in New York, Greece, and London between September 2022 and March 2023. Regardless of type, researchers found traces of all 16 metals in all the samples, including toxic substances like lead, arsenic, and cadmium, which are linked to cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, neurological, reproductive, renal, and respiratory health complications.
Not even organic tampons, which advertise themselves as 100 percent cotton, fared well. Non-organic tampons contained higher concentrations of lead, but organic tampons contained higher levels of arsenic, and neither category had consistently lower concentrations of metals. “I don’t think we can answer the question of whether or not a specific tampon is better or not better at this point,” says Dr. Jenni Shearston, the lead author of the study. “We’re finding metals in all of these tampons.”
But how are heavy metals even finding their way into these products? “We don’t know exactly how they may have gotten into specific tampons without being able to trace back the whole train of resources and manufacturing processes,” Shearston says. Manufacturers sometimes introduce metals into tampons when adding anti-microbial, whitening, lubricating, and odor-reducing agents. But the cotton these manufacturers use might be contaminated before it even gets to the factories: Cotton plants can accumulate metals from contaminated soil, pesticides, and fertilizers, and are sometimes grown next to pollution sources like highways or lead smelters, according to Shearston.
And while exposure to toxic metals is an obvious health hazard, researchers say more studies are needed to determine if the metals can actually leach out of the tampons and get absorbed into vaginal tissue. “It might be that some can and some can’t. We just don’t know yet,” says Shearston, who says it’s hard to make a recommendation at this point about what consumers should do. She emphasizes the importance of continuing to study tampons and other menstrual products to know more about what chemicals may be present in them and exactly what risks they pose.
We do know, however, that vaginal tissue is highly absorptive, as chemicals that enter it don’t get metabolized or detoxified before entering the bloodstream, potentially leading to higher exposure risk from lower concentrations. “Let’s say there’s lead in the lipstick you’re wearing, you lick your lips, and you swallow it,” Shearston explains. “It gets absorbed through the intestinal tract and sent to your liver. But when things are absorbed through the vagina, they might get into our bloodstream and move around in our body before they make it to the liver.”
While the FDA recommends that tampons be free of dioxins — toxic chemical compounds common in manufacturing processes — and pesticide residue, there’s currently no requirement to test tampons for chemical contaminants. In the meantime, Shearston says it’s important for consumers to think about what’s going into their menstrual products and demand transparency from manufacturers so that they can hopefully be removed. “That kind of thing won’t happen unless we push for it,” says Shearston.
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