Metals, including toxic lead, detected in tested tampons
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Key takeaways:
- Researchers detected 16 metals, including lead, cadmium and arsenic, in every tampon sample tested.
- Researchers do not yet know if the metals can be absorbed by the body.
Researchers confirmed the presence of toxic metals, including lead, cadmium and arsenic, in each of 60 tampon samples tested, though they cautioned more studies are needed on whether the detected metals can leach into the body.
“We found metals, including the toxic metal lead, in 100% of the tampons we tested,” Jenni A. Shearston, PhD, MPH, a postdoctoral scholar with the Sustainability and Health Equity Lab at University of California Berkeley School of Public Health, told Healio. “However, I want to emphasize that we do not yet know if metals can leach out of the tampon and whether they are absorbed by the body. We therefore cannot yet assess to what extent — if any — metals in tampons contribute to any health problems. We need more research on this severely understudied area because millions of people could be affected.”
The researchers evaluated the concentrations of 16 metal(loid)s in 30 tampons from 14 tampon brands and 18 product lines, purchased from September 2022 to March 2023, and compared the concentrations by tampon characteristics. The study did not name the specific brands that were tested.
“We generally selected products that were listed as top sellers on a major online retailer, as well as ‘store-brand’ products (products with the brand name of the store where purchased or made specifically for that store) from several large chain retailers in the U.S.,” the researchers wrote. “We also generally selected products with greater absorbencies to ensure there was enough material for multiple tests.”
The researchers used inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to determine concentrations of arsenic, barium, calcium, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, mercury, nickel, lead, selenium, strontium, vanadium and zinc from 60 samples. Researchers compared concentrations by several tampon characteristics, including region of purchase, organic material and brand type.
The findings were published in Environment International.
The researchers detected “measurable concentrations” of all 16 metals assessed, including elevated mean concentrations of lead (geometric mean, 120 ng/g), cadmium (geometric mean, 6.74 ng/g) and arsenic (geometric mean, 2.56 ng/g).
The metal concentrations varied by region of tampon purchase, such as U.S. vs. European, by organic vs. nonorganic material and by store-brand vs. name-brand tampons. Differences were observed mostly between organic vs. nonorganic tampons, with nonorganic tampons containing higher lead concentrations and organic tampons containing higher levels of arsenic.
“We cannot yet speculate on clinical implications, because in order for people’s health to be impacted, the metals must come out of the tampons and be absorbed into the body,” Shearston told Healio. “We are studying this now, to see if the metals can come out of the tampon and be absorbed.
“First, we need to do experiments to determine if the metals we found in tampons can come out of them,” Shearston said. “Then, we need to see if these metals can be absorbed by the body. We are working on this first research question right now.”
Researchers noted that there are several routes by which metals can be introduced into tampons, including via manufacturing and contaminated raw materials of cotton, rayon or viscose. Tampons could also become contaminated with metals from water during the manufacturing process, and some metals may be added for odor control and for absorbance.
Researchers said the findings suggest regulations are needed to require testing of tampons for metals by manufacturers.
For more information:
Jenni A. Shearston, PhD, MPH, can be reached at jshearston@berkeley.edu; X (Twitter): @JenniShearston.
Perspective
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Nathaniel DeNicola, MD, MSHP, FACOG
This is a bit of a reality check moment for patients, consumers and the public at large. Very few of the commercial products out there that include chemical manufacturing get tested before they go public. As an environmental health expert and a doctor in private practice, it seems there is this veil of security that many feel is present, protecting us from toxic things in commercial products. There just isn’t.
I do not want to be alarmist and make people feel so overwhelmed that they ignore the topic overall. I do not, for example, think these data mean women should not use tampons. That was not what the study demonstrated. Notably, researchers did not measure any amounts of metals in the bloodstream. That is an important next step.
One cannot possibly cocoon themselves from all of the potential things that have a label as a toxic chemical. That is virtually impossible. But one can, armed with knowledge, make choices. A tampon is in that category of an intimate product that is used often. A lot of these chemicals are toxic in certain amounts. The amounts that are biologically active have not been studied, so one cannot speculate.
There is probably a reflection moment here for people who use tampons on whether it is the right choice for them, because there are alternatives. I do not tell my patients that they should avoid tampons. But if they ask, I do mention that there have historically been problems related to toxic shock syndrome, and there are reasons to consider alternatives, even before this. The plastic waste that comes from tampons is enormous and underappreciated.
Consumers deserve to be protected and be knowledgeable of what they are consuming or putting in their body. FDA has pretty plainly said that this is not their purview. They are more active on the enforcement of false claims. There is not another government agency addressing this head-on at the scale that this needs to be. For now, we rely on third-party or independent testing, calling this out and at least making consumers aware so they can go over their choices.
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