The FDA just announced a plan to investigate a product that millions of women use every day: tampons.
This comes after a shocking study published earlier this year found that many popular brands contain toxic metals.
Long-term exposure to these heavy metals, including lead, arsenic and cadmium, has been linked to kidney and liver damage, miscarriages and an increased risk of cancer.
Washington State Senator Patty Murray has led the push for more research on tampons and other menstrual products.
A previous study has shown that some brands of menstrual underwear contain “forever chemicals” that have also been linked to cancer, as well as infertility and hormonal problems.
Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., announced the FDA’s decision to investigate tampon safety. She had previously sent a public letter to the agency urging it to conduct such a study.
Tests on 30 products purchased in New York, Athens and London found that some contained high levels of arsenic, chromium and even lead. All 16 metals tested were found in at least one tampon.
Senator Murray has a history of pushing for more testing of consumer products, having pushed legislation in past years focused on cosmetics and baby powder.
Announcing the review this week, she said: “These are products that millions of women use every day, so it’s important that we completely dismiss any concerns about their safety.”
‘For too long, women’s health has been ignored and understudied; since I came to Congress, making sure women’s health is a federal priority has been important to me.’
Senator Murray said The FDA has promised to organize an independent group to review old studies on the issue to determine how widespread the problem is.
This includes looking at studies that measure how the long-term health of tampon users differs from that of those who use other menstrual products.
They also announced that the Center for Devices and Radiological Health in the Office of Science and Engineering Laboratories, a branch of the agency, will begin a new study to determine how common heavy metals are in tampons.
Approximately 34 million American women use tampons, making it the first line of defense against menstruation for approximately 47 percent of women during their menstrual cycle. According to Harvard researchers TH Chan.
It’s not clear exactly how heavy metals get into these products. Cotton plants, which are used to make tampons, have been shown to absorb heavy metals from soil, pesticides, fertilizers and wastewater, the Berkeley researchers said in their July paper, published in the journal International Journal of the Environment.
It is also possible that metals were introduced into the manufacturing process when workers applied chemicals to the pad to whiten the products, disinfect them and reduce their odor.
Historically, manufacturers have used heavy metals in everything from paint to batteries to cosmetics, so researchers have become aware of a wide variety of health problems associated with them. If you ingest, inhale, or come into contact with heavy metals briefly, they likely won’t harm you.
But long-term exposure Heavy metal consumption has been linked to brain damage and memory loss, respiratory problems, liver damage, kidney damage, miscarriage, abnormal heart rhythm, and an increased risk of cancer.
Research hasn’t looked specifically at how contact with these chemicals through a tampon might affect a person, but the vagina is made of highly absorbent tissue, making it theoretically possible for it to absorb heavy metals.
Previous studies by watchdog organizations such as the Environmental Working Group have raised concerns about the presence of perfluoroalkyl substances, better known as PFAS or forever chemicals, in many household items, including tampons.
In July, when the Berkeley study was published, researchers detailed that they found lead and 16 other heavy metals in the 30 tampons they tested from 14 different brands.
The researchers declined to comment on which brands were tested, but shared that all are available at major retailers in the US, UK and parts of Europe.
The organic products they tested had higher levels of arsenic, and the non-organic products had higher levels of lead.
Currently, the United States regulates tampons as a medical device, which It means that the FDA reviews them for their absorption capacity, resistance, integrity and whether or not they improve the growth of harmful bacteria.
It is unclear whether they perform specific tests for heavy metals.