Overview
- This week the FDA published laboratory results from tests of 11 tampon products across six brands and detected 19 metals while concluding the amounts released during use are too small to cause harm.
- Researchers used an exaggerated “worst-case” extraction that pulled more metal from fibers than normal use would, and the agency says real-world exposure is likely even lower.
- The study and outside experts say metals likely come from natural uptake by cotton or rayon and from manufacturing inputs such as titanium dioxide rather than deliberate contamination.
- The FDA did not name the brands it tested and excluded scented tampons, leaving questions about product-specific results and possible differences in long-term exposure.
- Tampons are regulated as medical devices and the FDA has proposed guidance to standardize contamination testing and labeling, a step that could increase transparency and further scrutiny of menstrual products.