Feminine Products: Why Are Producers Hiding What Is In Them?

A new bill in Congress pushes for more transparency, which is definitely needed. Action Alert!
A recently introduced bill, the Menstrual Products Right To Know Act, would require companies to provide a detailed list of everything in menstrual products. Because the FDA classifies tampons, pads, and other feminine care products as medical devices, manufacturers are not required to list individual ingredients on product labels, and, until recently, we have not known what was in these sensitive products.
A report from Women’s Voices for the Earth found that feminine care products may contain a wide array of scary chemicals. For example, tampons may contain dioxins and furans from the chemical bleaching process, pesticide residues, and unknown fragrance chemicals. Other products like pads may contain adhesive chemicals in addition to pesticides and byproducts of the bleaching process. Exposure to these chemicals puts women at risk for cancer, reproductive harm, endocrine disruption, and allergic rash.
The danger is amplified by the fact that these products are used in and around the vagina, which is an incredibly sensitive and absorbent part of the body—meaning that chemicals in these products have a direct entryway to the bloodstream and wider circulation throughout the body.
American women have a right to know what is in the feminine care products they buy.
Action Alert! Write to your representative and urge him or her to support the Menstrual Products Right To Know Act. Please send your message immediately.

 
Other articles in this week’s Pulse of Natural Health:
Parallel Healthcare System?
Coconut Oil Bad for You?