Researchers discovered greater than a dozen metals, together with lead and arsenic, in extensively accessible tampons within the US and Europe utilized by probably tens of millions of individuals.
Lead was present in all 30 tampons examined from 14 completely different manufacturers, based on the research revealed this week within the journal Environmental Worldwide. Lead publicity could cause neurological injury. That is the primary paper to measure the focus of metals in tampons, stated Jenni Shearston, a postdoctoral scholar on the College of California Berkeley College of Public Well being and the research’s lead writer.
Extra analysis is required to see if the metals leach out of tampons. Their presence is especially regarding given the pores and skin of the vagina is extra permeable than different areas of the physique and something absorbed into the bloodstream from there isn’t first handed by means of the gastrointestinal tract or filtered by the liver, based on the research’s authors.
The merchandise have been bought from main on-line retailers and shops within the US, UK and Greece. The researchers didn’t cite the manufacturers. Shearston didn’t instantly reply to a request for the checklist of merchandise.
Main tampon manufacturers embody Tampax from Procter & Gamble Co., Kotex from Kimberly-Clark Corp. and Playtex from Edgewell Private Care Co. The businesses didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark.
Cotton, Rayon
Tampons are made with cotton, rayon or a mixture of the 2. Researchers stated it’s attainable the metals have been absorbed from the soil by the vegetation used to make the menstruation merchandise. They is also added in chemical compounds used as antimicrobials or odor management, the report stated.
The research discovered that natural tampons contained much less lead and extra arsenic than non-organic ones and tampons bought within the US had increased lead ranges than these within the European Union or UK. The researchers additionally measured cadmium, copper, mercury and nickel, amongst others.
“Our findings point towards the need for regulations requiring the testing of metals in tampons by manufacturers,” the research’s authors wrote.
Within the US, the Meals and Drug Administration regulates tampons as a medical machine. The company requires tampon makers to indicate their merchandise are the identical as others available on the market, a course of which does embody security assessments, although it’s unclear if that features measuring for metals. The FDA didn’t instantly reply to a request for remark.
