Tampons Found To Contain Lead and Other Toxic Metals, Raising Concerns Over Safety of Menstrual Products

A study reveals that tampons of different popular brands contain toxic metals, including lead, arsenic, and cadmium.

Toxic Tampons

A group of scientists from the University of California, Berkeley carried out a study for which the levels of 16 metals in 30 tampons from 14 different brands were analyzed. The results of this study were announced by the researchers in the paper titled "Tampons as a source of exposure to metal(loid)s."

Led by Jenni A. Shearston, the team tested products purchased in New York, Athens, and London. These tampon brands are much used, with possibly millions of users every month.

As revealed in this study, the quantities of metals in the menstrual products varied from one sample to another through some factors such as where they were bought, whether organic or not organic, and the store or best-name brands.

However, all types of tampons contained detectable levels of metals. No single category consistently showed lower concentrations across all or most metals.

The 16 metals found include arsenic, barium, calcium, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, selenium, strontium, vanadium, and zinc.

Of these toxins, lead was the most prevalent, with an average total of 120 nanograms per gram, followed by cadmium at 6.74 nanograms per gram. Non-organic tampons had higher levels of lead, while organic ones contained higher levels of arsenic.

The toxic metals could make their way into tampons through different ways. The metals could have been absorbed into the cotton materials from soil, water, air, or through some contaminant nearby. Other than this, some metals also might get added intentionally during manufacturing as a part of a pigment, whitener, antibacterial agent, or some other processes in the factory.

Despite this large potential for public health concern, only a few studies have been done to measure the amount of chemicals in tampons, according to Shearston.

Risks of Contaminated Tampons

In particular, tampons have been the subject of concern because of the potential for chemicals to be introduced directly to the body through the vagina. The skin in the vagina is known to have a higher potential for chemical uptake than skin in other areas of the body.

Aside from this, menstrual products are used by a large percentage of the population on a monthly basis, with 60-80% of women using tampons for several hours at a time.

The most worrying of the effects of toxic metals include the increased risk of suffering from dementia, infertility, diabetes, and cancer. The damage caused by these metals has been found in almost every organ system, including the brain, kidneys, liver, cardiovascular, endocrine, and nervous systems. Other effects of metals include adverse effects on maternal health and fetal development.

According to study co-author Kathrin Schilling, toxic metals are ubiquitous, and we are exposed to low levels at any given time. However, the study clearly shows that metals are also present in menstrual products and that women might be at higher risk for exposure to these products.

It is thus not yet known whether the metals that have been detected in this survey contribute to any ill health effects. The research team plans to conduct further investigation to test how much of these metals can leach out of the tampons and be absorbed by the body. They also aim to measure the presence of other chemicals in tampons.