Are your tampons toxic?

Did you know, the average woman will use approximately 16,800 tampons/ sanitary pads in her life time? That's a lot of sanitary products!

Ever wondered whats in them? Yeah I hadn't either, not for a long time. Not till I started to think about TSS - Toxic Shock Syndrome. All tampons come with the TSS label warning.

Toxic Shock Syndrome is a rare but serious medical condition that is caused when the bacteria, Staphylococcus Aureus gets into your bloodstream. It has been linked to the use of tampons.

Please take the time to read this heartbreaking story HERE, it really makes you think about TSS.

So in the very short of it, yes tampons have the potential to be very toxic to our bodies. 

So whats in these bad boys?

According to Tampax.com:

The Applicator is usually made of tightly wound cardboard or plastic with pigments of colour
The Absorbent core is usually made of cotton or rayon 
The thin fabric around the absorbent core is usually made of rayon & polyester or polyethylene & polypropylene 
The string is usually made of cotton &/or polyester polypropylene braid
The thread used to attach the string to the core is usually made from cotton wrapped polyester or polyester
The fragrance if applicable - fragrance ingredients like those found in other women's feminine products - I'm sorry but could that be any more obscure?!!

So each ingredient is synthetic except for the cotton, which would have been through a bleaching process so that its nice a white. 
Both polyethylene & polypropylene are forms of plastic. 
Rayon is a manufactured regenerated cellulose fiber.
Polyester is another synthetic fiber.

All these fibers can get caught inside our bodies during the use of tampons, collecting bacteria which can lead to illness and TSS.
The bleaching process that the ingredients go through can also leave traces of dioxin in the product, and studies show that dioxin can collect in your bodies fatty tissues. Dioxin can cause cell abnormalities & suppress your immune system.



In my next post I will share an amazing alternative to tampons and my experience in using it!