Killer Tampons

If you are a woman and use pads, but especially if you use tampons, read this and pass it on to your friends. For the men reading this, please tell your friends, significant others, sisters, mothers, daughters, etc. Thanks!

Check the labels of the sanitary pads or tampons that you are going to buy the next time and see whether you spot any of the familiar signs stated in this email. No wonder so many women in the world suffer from cervical cancer and womb tumors. Have you heard that tampon makers include asbestos in tampons? Why would they do this?

Because asbestos makes you bleed more, if you bleed more, you're going to need to use more. Why isn't this against the law since asbestos is so dangerous? Because the powers that be, in all their wisdom (not), did not consider tampons as being ingested and, therefore, did not consider them illegal or dangerous.

This month's Essence magazine mentions 2 manufacturers of a cotton tampon alternative. The companies are: Organic Essentials @ 1-800-765-6491 and Terra Femme @ 1-800-755-0212. (other great alternatives are “The Keeper” or menstrual cups like the “Moon Cup” www.mooncup.co.uk

A woman getting her Ph.D. at University of Colorado sent the following: "I am writing this because women are not being informed about the dangers of something most of us use: Tampons. I am taking a class this month and I have been learning a lot about biology and women, including feminine hygiene. Recently we have learned that tampons are actually dangerous (for other reasons than TSS). After learning about this in our class, most of the females wound up feeling angry and upset with the tampon industry, and I for one, am going to do something about it. To start, I want to inform everyone I can, and email is the fastest way that I know how.

HERE IS THE SCOOP: Tampons contain two things that are potentially harmful: Rayon (for abso rbency), and dioxin (a chemical used in bleaching). The tampon industry is convinced that we, as women, need bleached white products in order to view the product as pure and clean. The problem here is that the dioxin, can lead to very harmful problems for a woman. Dioxin is potentially carcinogenic (cancer-associated) and is toxic to the immune and reproductive systems. It has also been linked to endometriosis and lower sperm counts for men. For both sexes, it breaks down the immune system.

Last September, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that there really is no "acceptable" level of exposure to dioxin given that it is cumulative and slow to disintegrate. The real danger comes from repeated contact (Karen Couppert "Pulling the Plug on the Tampon Industry"). I'd say using about 4-5 tampons a day, five days a month, for 38 years is "repeated contact", wouldn't you? Rayon contributes to the danger of tampons and diox in because it is a highly absorbent substance. Therefore, when fibers from the tampons are left behind in the vagina (as usually occurs), it creates a breeding ground for the dioxin. It also stays in a lot longer that it would with just cotton tampons. This is also the reason why TSS (toxic shock syndrome) occurs.

WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES? Using feminine hygiene products that aren't bleached and that are all cotton. Other feminine hygiene products (pads/napkins) contain dioxin as well, but they are not nearly as dangerous. So, what can you do if you can't give up using tampons? Use tampons that are made from 100% UNBLEACHED cotton. Other alternatives are the "Keeper" (and similar brands of reusable cups), "Instead" and other such products that are not consumptive nor dangerous.

Unfortunately, there are very few companies that make these safe tampons. They are usually only found in health food stores. Countries all over the world (Sweden, Germany,British Columbia, etc.) have demanded a switch to this safer tampon, while the US has decided to keep us in the dark about it. In 1989, activists in England mounted a campaign against chlorine bleaching. Six weeks and 50,000 letters later, the makers of sanitary products switched to oxygen bleaching (one of the green methods available) (MS magazine, May/June 1995).

WHAT TO DO NOW: Tell people. Everyone. Inform them. We are being manipulated by this industry and the government, let's do something about it! Please write to the companies: Tampax (Tambrands); Playtex; O.B.; Kotex. All the 800 numbers are listed on the boxes. Let them know that we demand a safe product: ALL COTTON UNBLEACHED TAMPONS...