Could heavy metals in tampons pose a health risk?

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has agreed to look at possible harm to women after a study showed heavy metals including lead and arsenic were found in multiple brands of tampons.
In announcing that the agency will look more closely at the issue, the FDA said that the study that found the heavy metals didn’t test whether metals are released from tampons when used or whether metals get into tissue and the bloodstream.
“The FDA has therefore commissioned an independent literature review and initiated an internal bench laboratory study to evaluate metals in tampons,” the notice read. The agency is promising a comprehensive review of previous studies “regarding the presence of chemicals in tampons and, importantly, any associated health effects of those chemicals.”
Its own lab will measure how or if metals come out of tampons under conditions that simulate normal use, the agency said, noting that findings will be released publicly when available and after peer review.
The notice emphasized that tampons on store shelves in the U.S. have met the FDA’s premarket requirements for safety and effectiveness.
Whether there’s a health risk from heavy metals in personal hygiene products was raised in July in a small study led by Columbia University researchers that was published in Environment International. The researchers said testing showed several toxic metals including lead were found. They noted that the highest concentration was found for zinc.
Per the study, “Tampons may contain metals from agricultural or manufacturing processes,” which could be absorbed. So they looked at concentrations of 16 different metals, testing 30 tampons from 14 brands and 18 product lines. They looked for arsenic, barium, cadmium, calcium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, lead, manganese, mercury, nickel, selenium, strontium, vanadium and zinc. They also compared the concentrations of the heavy metals by characteristics like the region of purchase, organic material and brand type.
All 16 metals were found in at least one of the tested products. They said that lead concentrations were higher in nonorganic tampons, while more arsenic was found in organic tampons. “No category had consistently lower concentrations of all or more metals,” the study said.
In a letter sent last week, members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus urged the head of the FDA, Dr. Robert Califf, to look into safety issues related to tampons. “We urge the FDA to take swift action to ensure that women are safe from harmful and toxic substances in tampons,” they wrote. “We look forward to reviewing your plan to address these concerns and working with you on this issue.”
The authors wrote that women use about 7,400 tampons over the course of their reproductive years, “so the presence of potentially harmful metals and chemicals in these products is incredibly concerning.” They added that since the FDA considers and regulates tampons as “medical devices, manufacturers aren’t required to disclose their chemical ingredients nor does the Food and Drug Administration require ingredients used in menstrual products like tampons to meet any kind of safety standard.”
“Tampons are essential menstrual hygiene products used by over 30 million women of reproductive age in the United States,” said Rep. Kathy Manning, D-N.C., the caucus’ policy co-chair, in a news release. “That’s why I’m joining my Democratic Women’s Caucus colleagues to call on the FDA to swiftly address safety concerns posed by tampon ingredients. No woman should have to question the safety of these necessary, everyday products.”
Added her colleague and co-chair Massachusetts Rep. Ayanna Pressley: “It’s unconscionable to think that women could be putting their health and lives at risk simply by using basic, essential hygiene products like tampons. In light of this alarming report, we’re calling on the FDA to take urgent action to ensure the safety of these products, protect the health of those who depend on them, and give women the peace of mind that they can use them without putting themselves at risk.”
As NPR has reported, “Safety concerns about tampons, and calls for stronger regulation, are not new. More than a dozen studies in recent years have evaluated the presence of various chemicals in widely used menstrual products, including a 2019 study that found higher concentrations of blood mercury in tampon users (which is cited in Thursday’s letter).”
NPR wrote, “Heavy metals have been linked to all sorts of negative health effects, from damaging the cardiovascular, nervous and endocrine systems to increasing cancer risks to harming maternal health and fetal development.”
But how much exposure women have from hygiene products and the potential for danger are not known; hence the need for further study to see if they leach out of tampons and what impact that might have.
The Cleveland Clinic reported that untreated heavy metal poisoning can create irreversible symptoms, including brain damage and kidney and liver failure. Those ailments require serious exposure.
The National Institutes of Health lists five heavy metals that are most likely to lead to toxic human exposure. They are mercury, lead, chromium, cadmium and arsenic.