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news
Tampon toxins:
Questions and debates
By Danielle Grossman
On-line Forty-Niner
Toxic substances
are found in tampons such as rayon for absorbency and dioxin,
a chemical used in bleaching products.
Approximately 73
million women in the United States use tampons and the average
woman may use as many as 16,800 tampons in her lifetime, according
to research done by Congress for the Tampon Safety and Research
Act of 1999.
"Manufacturers
cannot say with accuracy that their products are not harmful,"
said Dr. Monica Lange, a faculty member in the women studies
program at Cal State Long Beach. "We have a much higher
rate of endometriosis, infertility and other gynecological
problems today, including premenstrual symptoms. These companies
have not done any empirical research examining the short and
long term effects of their products on women's reproductive
health."
Lange has done
extensive research for the women's studies program regarding
information given to girls and women about their bodies and
the products they use. She supplies organic tampons and pads
at the Women's Resource Center. Other manufacturers that make
these products include Natracare and Organic Essentials.
"Don't take
my word for it," Lange said. "Try organically grown
tampons or pads and determine for yourself whether your periods
are lighter, fewer days and you have fewer problems like itching,
irritation, diarrhea, cramps, and migraines. The women who
have changed products have had incredible changes in their
comfort during their periods."
Research from the
Tampon Research and Safety Act revealed that dioxins are a
probable human carcinogen, or cancer causing agent, and it
is the byproduct of chlorine-bleaching processes used in the
manufacture of paper products. These products include tampons,
sanitary pads, pantiliners and diapers.
Internal documents
from the Food and Drug Administration suggest that they have
not adequately investigated the dangers of dioxin in tampons,
instead relying on data provided by the manufacturers of these
products to determine product safety.
The Tampax Tampons
company had something different to say about the substances
found in their products.
Dr. Ann Hochwalt,
a spokeswoman for the safety of Tampax, said much like cotton
and other natural plant fibers, rayon has been used in Tampax
Tampons for more than 25 years. Extensive testing has been
done by leading scientists at Harvard, Dartmouth and the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, which has determined that
both rayon and cotton are equally safe materials for tampons,
Hochwalt said.
"Tampax Tampons,
Always Pads and Alldays Pantiliners do not contain dioxin,
because chlorine gases are not used in the bleaching process,"
Hochwalt said. "The methods we use to analyze dioxin
are the most advanced government-approved testing methods
available, and can detect even minute amounts of dioxin, if
present."
However, Hochwalt
did not state anything regarding any long-term testing.
During a forum
Lange presented last year, she said that while tampons used
to be made of pesticide-free cotton and were not bleached.
Now rayon is used and bleached to whiten it.
"Most manufacturers
now use an alternative process to clean the wood fibers (rayon),
but there is virtually no control over how the fibers are
grown or processed and whether the procedures are harmful
to women," Lange said.
"At one time,
bleaching the wood pulp was a potential source of trace amounts
of dioxin in tampons, but that bleaching method is no longer
used," according to the FDA Web site. "Rayon raw
material used in U.S. tampons is now produced using elemental
chlorine-free or totally chlorine-free bleaching processes."
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