Tampons contain LEAD and other toxic metals, study finds

Toxic metals could be hidden in tampons sold in the UK, according to an alarming investigation revealed today.

Tests on 30 products purchased in New York, Athens and London found that some contained dangerous levels of arsenic, chromium and even lead.

And all 16 metals tested were detected in at least one buffer.

Exposure to lead can harm brain development, while other metals can trigger potentially fatal blood clotting and increase the risk of certain cancers.

US researchers said the investigation showed tampons were “a potential source of metal exposure” for women.

However, experts have urged women not to panic and warned that more research is needed to find out if there is any danger to female users.

Although some products are available in the US, others in the UK and EU, the researchers chose not to name the items or the 14 brands involved.

Dr Jenni Shearston, an expert in air pollution epidemiology at the University of California, Berkeley, said: “Despite this significant potential for public health concern, very little research has been done to measure the chemicals in tampons.

“To our knowledge, this is the first paper to measure metals in tampons.

“We found concentrations of all the metals we tested, including toxic metals like arsenic and lead.”

Professor Kathrin Schilling, assistant professor and geochemist at Columbia University, added: “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 may be at higher risk of exposure when using these products.”

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Possible exposure to heavy metals via tampons is of concern given that the thin nature of the internal tissue of the vagina could provide an easy route for these substances to enter the body.

The results are also potentially far-reaching with approximately 50-80% of menstruating women use tampons every month — for several hours at a time.

In the study, the 16 metals tested included arsenic, barium, calcium, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper and iron.

Others included manganese, mercury, nickel, lead, selenium, strontium, vanadium and zinc.

The researchers identified examples of each of the 16 tampons tested.

Several metals were detected in all samples, including arsenic, cadmium, chromium, lead and vanadium.

Among these, lead had the highest concentration, with a total average of 120 nanograms per gram (ng/g).

Cadmium follows with 6.74 ng/g, followed by arsenic with 2.56 ng/g.

In a paper published in the journal Environment International, the researchers said: “There is no safe level of lead exposure.

“Any amount of lead that could leak from a tampon and reach the systemic circulation could contribute to adverse health effects.”

No brand or type of tampon had significantly lower levels of metals overall, they added.

Organic tampons had higher arsenic levels, but non-organic tampons had higher lead levels.

The authors said there were several ways the metals could have become embedded in the tampons.

One was that the cotton plants used to make the tampons could have absorbed metals from the soil and water, especially where there are contaminants nearby, such as a cotton field near a lead smelter.

They can also potentially be added during manufacturing processes as bleaching agents, antibacterial agents or through cross-contamination from other factory processes.

Dr Shearston said: “I really hope that manufacturers will be required to test their products for metals, particularly toxic metals.

“It would be interesting to see the public demand that, or demand better labeling on tampons and other menstrual products.”

However, experts urged women not to panic and warned that there was “no evidence that metals can leach into menstrual blood”.

Professor Atholl Johnston, emeritus professor of clinical pharmacology at Queen Mary University of London, told MailOnline: ‘I don’t doubt the research findings, but I do doubt the bioavailability of metals in tampons.

“Prior to analysis, the buffers were cut, then the researchers added 2 mL of 67-70% nitric acid (HNO3) to each sample and predigested the buffers at room temperature overnight before microwave-assisted acid digestion.

“An environment that hardly resembles that of an average vagina.”

He added: “If I were a woman using tampons, I wouldn’t be panicking at this point.

“There is no evidence that metals can leach into menstrual blood and be absorbed into the body.”

It comes just weeks after US consumer advocacy group Mamavation and the Environmental Working Group also suggested tampons could contain harmful perfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.

Dubbed “forever chemicals” because they can persist in the environment for hundreds of years, they have been linked to everything from cancer to high cholesterol to infertility.

Mamavation has discovered that popular Playtex tampons, Always liners, and Carefree liners, all sold in the United States, have tested positive for organic fluoride, a chemical that contains known PFAS.

Playtex Sport diapers contained 19 ppm, while Always panty liners contained 21 ppm of these chemicals and Carefree product 17 ppm.

Last year, some period pants sold by retailers in the UK were also found to contain high levels of silver.

Silver is used as an antimicrobial agent and is commonly added to menstrual panties to combat users’ concerns about odor and hygiene.

However, scientists have found that nanosilver can kill lactobacilli, the healthy bacteria in the vagina that help fight infections.

This can put menstrual panty users at increased risk of harmful bacteria, which can lead to an increased risk of bacterial infections and pregnancy complications.