Heavy Metals Have Been Found In Tampons. What Happens Next?

A recent study has revealed concerning findings: tampons from 14 different brands contain measurable traces of 16 metals, including lead and arsenic.

This groundbreaking research, conducted by scientists from Columbia University, U.C. Berkeley, and Michigan State University, is the first to measure metal content in tampons.

How has this happened, and are people who use them all over the world being subtly poisoned when they use one?

On today’s episode of The Briefing, Dr Jenni Shearston, an environmental epidemiologist at the University of California Berkeley and co-author of this study, joined Sacha Barbour Gatt to explain the findings.

Dr Shearston said the study evaluated 30 tampons from 18 product lines. 

The presence of metals in everyday items is not uncommon. For example, inorganic arsenic can be found in the rice we eat.

However, the detection of metals in tampons raises specific concerns due to direct absorption into the body.

Researchers noted that metals present in tampons could result “in higher exposure risk even from low concentrations.”

“We weren’t surprised to find some of the metals we were looking for because metals are everywhere in our environment we’re exposed to to low levels of them all the time,” Dr Shearston said.

“But we were surprised to find that we had LED in 100% of the tampons we tested,” she added.

Dr Shearston emphasised the need for further investigation and called for transparency from tampon manufacturers about the safety of their products. 

“I don’t think there’s cause for panic right now. Our studies only finding that there are metals present in the tampons, but we don’t know if the metals can come out of the tampons or if they can come into the body.”

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