Every woman has their preference when it comes to period products, but one may be worse for your health. A found that some tampons contain chemicals, including hazardous metals like lead and arsenic, that are . A large percent of the female population, up to 86 percent, every month for hours at a time.
Lead author Jenni A. Shearston said: “Despite this large potential for concern, very little research has been done to measure chemicals in tampons. “To our knowledge, this is the first paper to measure metals in .
Concerningly, we found concentrations of all metals we tested for, including toxic metals like arsenic and lead.” Researchers found the vagina is lined with highly absorptive tissue, meaning it can easily soak up pollutants. Those stray toxins can then enter the bloodstream without being first filtered out by the liver.
When these toxic metals enter the body, they can cause an increased risk of , infertility, diabetes and . They can also damage the liver, kidneys, and brain, as well as the cardiovascular, nervous and endocrine systems, the report said. The researchers found levels of 16 metals in 30 tampons from 14 different brands.
The metals were: arsenic, barium, calcium, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, mercury, nickel, lead, selenium, strontium, vanadium, and zinc. The levels varied by what country they were purchased in, organic versus non-organic, and generic versus name brands. No category had consistently lower concentrations of metal.
