10 Jul 2024 --- Several toxic metals, including lead and arsenic, were detected in organic and inorganic tampons from various brands. This marks the first time metals were evaluated in the commonly used hygiene product. Personal Care Insights talks to lead author Jenni Shearston about the findings and next steps. The researchers from UC Berkeley, US, evaluated sixteen metal(loid)s in different kinds of tampons, with zinc having the highest concentration (geometric mean = 52,000 ng/g). A geometric mean lead concentration of 120 ng/g was also found in the samples — lead has no known “safe” exposure level. Arsenic’s geometric mean was reported as 2.56 ng/g.
