Study reveals tampons contain lead, arsenic and potentially toxic metals

The study, which did not name brands and used the terms generic A, generic B to describe the tested products, found traces of 16 types of metal in tampons, including toxic metals such as lead, arsenic and cadmium.

“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,” study co-author Kathrin Schilling said.

Tampons are usually made from a mix of cotton and rayon both of which are highly absorbent and biocompatible. Biocompatibility means the material can be present inside the body without causing a bad reaction. Some tampons are 100 percent cotton, and some are made from 100 percent “certified organic” cotton.

The study by a team of researchers led by Jenni A Shearston at the University of California at Berkeley (UC Berkeley) is alarming because of the vagina’s greater capacity for absorbing chemicals compared with other parts of the body.

“The findings are of particular concern as the skin of the vagina has a higher potential for absorbing chemicals than skin in other parts of the body,” says the research.

Dr. Grace Kanyi, a gynecologist in Nairobi notes that indeed tampons are a potential source of exposure to chemicals.

“This is because the skin of the vagina has a higher potential for chemical absorption than skin elsewhere in the body. That combined with the fact that women use several tampons for at least 4-5 days a month, depending on the number of the menstrual flow,” she said.

Previous studies have also found that the exposure to toxic metals like lead and arsenic is linked to health conditions including infertility, cancer, diabetes, liver and kidney issues among others.

The study examined 30 kinds of tampons across 14 brands with different levels of absorbency. They found that metals were present in all types of tampons, whether bought in the US or EU/UK, with no category having consistently lower concentrations of most of the metals.

Although the research detected toxic metals in tampons, the researchers made clear they cannot determine if these are dangerous to the women using them. They called for further studies to determine if these metals can leach from tampons and be absorbed through vaginal tissue.

“The big question here is at what stage did the tampons get contaminated, if it happened during manufacturing that that needs to be rectified before it reaches consumers. Manufacturers are required to test their products for metals, especially for toxic metals,” said Dr. Kanyi. 

Researchers suspect that metals were making their way into tampons likely in a number of ways during manufacturing.