When it comes to health and exposure concerns, tampons are particularly concerning as the skin of the vagina has a higher potential for chemical absorption than skin elsewhere on the body, according to Futurity.
However, researchers believe that despite this, tampons are still woefully under-studied and, in fact, a new study has revealed that millions of tampons actually contain toxic materials such as arsenic and lead.
Lead author Jenni A. Shearston, a postdoctoral scholar at the UC Berkeley School of Public Health, said: “Despite this large potential for public health concern, very little research has been done to measure chemicals in tampons.
“To our knowledge, this is the first paper to measure metals in tampons. Concerningly, we found concentrations of all metals we tested for, including toxic metals like arsenic and lead.”
Of course, this is alarming but the health implications of it are far more frightening.
Berkeley Public Health said: “Metals have been found to increase the risk of dementia, infertility, diabetes, and cancer.
“They can damage the liver, kidneys, and brain, as well as the cardiovascular, nervous, and endocrine systems. In addition, metals can harm maternal health and foetal development.”
Coauthor Kathrin Schilling, assistant professor at Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health said: “Although toxic metals are ubiquitous and we are exposed to low levels at any given time, our study clearly shows that metals are also present in menstrual products, and that women might be at higher risk for exposure using these products.”
For now, we don’t know if these metals are contributing to negative health effects but researchers have stated that further studies will test how much of these metals can leach out of the tampons and be absorbed by the body, as well as measuring for other chemicals.
Shearston said: “I really hope that manufacturers are required to test their products for metals, especially for toxic metals.
“It would be exciting to see the public call for this, or to ask for better labelling on tampons and other menstrual products.”
