Tampons are one of the most commonly used intimate hygiene products during menstruation, but they could be poisoning you, as a new study by scientists at the University of California, Berkeley has found that tampons from various brands that are potentially used by millions of women every month may contain toxic metals such as lead – a metal for which there is no known safe level of exposure –, arsenic and cadmium.
Tampons are a potential source of exposure to chemicals, including metals, because vaginal skin has a greater capacity for chemical absorption than skin on other parts of the body. In addition, 50 to 80 percent of menstruating women use tampons every month, and for several hours at a time, the study’s authors noted.
“Despite this significant potential for public health concern, very little research has been done to measure chemicals in tampons,” said lead author Jenni A. Shearston, a postdoctoral scholar at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health and the UC Berkeley Department of Environmental Science, Policy and Management. “To our knowledge, this is the first study to measure metals in tampons. What’s concerning is that we found concentrations of all the metals we tested for, including toxic metals like arsenic and lead.”
Metals have been found to increase the risk of dementia, infertility, diabetes and cancer. They can also damage the liver, kidneys and brain, as well as the cardiovascular, nervous and endocrine systems. In addition, metals can negatively influence maternal health and fetal development.
“Although toxic metals are ubiquitous and we are exposed to low levels at all times, our study clearly demonstrates that metals are also present in menstrual products, and that women may be at increased risk of exposure when using them,” said Kathrin Schilling, co-author of the study and assistant professor at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health.
How tampons become contaminated with toxic metals
Researchers assessed levels of 16 metals (arsenic, barium, calcium, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, mercury, nickel, lead, selenium, strontium, vanadium, and zinc) in 30 tampons from 14 different brands. Metal concentrations varied depending on where the tampons were purchased (US versus EU/UK), whether they were organic or nonorganic, and whether they were store brands or name brands.
They found that metals were present in all types of tampons; no category had lower concentrations of all or most metals. Lead concentrations were higher in non-organic tampons, but arsenic was higher in organic tampons. Their worrying findings have been published in Environment International.
Metals increase the risk of dementia, infertility, diabetes and cancer and can negatively influence maternal health and fetal development.
Metals could get into tampons in several ways: the cotton material could have absorbed metals from water, air, soil, through a nearby contaminant (for example, if a cotton field was near a lead smelter), or some could be intentionally added during manufacturing as part of a pigment, bleach, antibacterial agent, or other process in the factory that produces the products.
“I really hope that manufacturers are required to test their products for metals, especially toxic metals,” Shearston said, adding that “it would be exciting to see the public ask for this or demand better labeling of tampons and other menstrual products.”
It is currently unclear whether the metals detected in this study are contributing to any negative health effects, but future research will look at how much of these metals may be released from tampons and absorbed by the body, as well as measure the presence of other chemicals in tampons.
