Tiny Choices Q&A: Organic Tampons?
By Jenn (TinyChoices.com) | September 7, 2007
Welcome to Tiny Choices Q&A, where we open the floor for discussion on questions which ya’ll have submitted (read the first list of questions here).
MZ asks:
Can you talk about tampons..after all this time I’m still not using the healthy environmental ones…I need to know more about tampons and why [I shouldn't use] the typical ones ?
The topic of menstruation, and of alternative menstruation products, is a Very Important One which Tiny Choices is planning to talk about in detail soon… but for now we’ll stick to your question and just focus on tampons.
First, some facts about your average, run-of-the-mill (non-organic) tampon:
- All tampons used to be, and some tampons still are, chlorine bleached. Dioxin is a by-product of the chlorine-bleaching process and collects in the fatty tissues of animals (including humans). Even low levels of dioxin may be linked to immune system problems, cancer, endometriosis, and low sperm counts.
- Many average tampons contain rayon as at least part of the tampon body. Rayon is made from wood pulp, which seems innocuous enough until you figure in the environmental nightmare of deforestation, milling, and transportation. Also, rayon increases the risk of Toxic Shock Syndrom (TSS).
- Most tampons include non-organic cotton, which, as a crop, uses over ONE BILLION TONS of pesticides and herbicides per year. Pesticides and herbicides all up in my girlie bits? No thanks.
- Most cotton grown in the U.S. is now genetically modified.
- Tampon applicators, aka “beach whistles” wash up on beaches worldwide in truly alarming quantities-and the plastic ones will take a thousand years or so to degrade.
- “Deoderant” tampons have chemical perfumes added, which can cause internal irritation.
Personally, and you may feel differently, these are all things that I really don’t want in my sensitive and absorbent nether regions. Here’s a test to try from EMagazine-The Enviornmental Magazine (2004) (Editor’s note: I don’t have any tampons on hand with which to test this, so if any of ya’ll do please leave a comment below with the results): “Some college courses on women’s health conduct a simple class demonstration: Place a new tampon in a glass of water. After it absorbs water, remove it, and watch all the remaining fibers floating in the water. These fibers remain inside a woman’s uterus.”
And here’s the FDA’s official site on Tampons and Asbestos, Dioxin, & Toxic Shock Syndrome, in which they state that regular tampons are totally healthy and fine. Well, I know the government never lies or covers up health-related information…
So, these are some reasons you might consider switching to organic cotton tampons. They’re easy to find in any health-food store, and many conventional drug stores stock them now too. And for you DIYers: crochet your own reusable tampons!
One final quote:
Whatever you choose, there are a few conclusions to keep in mind. One: No menstrual product is thoroughly regulated by the FDA. Two: Over the generations, women have stemmed the tide with everything from papyrus to wool, commercial tampons, and quartered kitchen sponges — and lived to tell the tale. Three: Whether you call them beach whistles, New Jersey seashells, LPTs (little pink things), torpedos, finger puppets, dum-dum bullets, or tube fish, plastic applicators are a waste.
Additional Resources:
- A handy chart comparing conventional and organic cotton.
- Village Voice: Pulling The Plug on the Tampon Industry.
- The Truth About Tampons, by Hannah Holmes
- MUM: Museum of Menstruation
- SPOT: the tampon health website
- Everything You Must Know About Tampons Nancy Friedmen, New York, Berkley Books, 1991
- Sweet Secrets: Stories of Menstruation Kathleen O’Grady and Paula Wansbrough. Toronto: Second Story Press, 1997. ISBN: 0-929005-33-3
- Whitewash Liz Armstrong and Adrienne Scott; Harper, Collins, 1992.
How many of you ladies use organic tampons? How many of you men love ladies who use organic tampons?
Click here for the Q&A archives!
Topics: Q&A, Waste | 26 Comments »
26 Comments
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crochet your own? really? i can’t imagine what that would feel like jenny (not to mention the dies..?). I am gonna try the natural ones again tho…great site:)
For the crocheted tampons, that discussion link talks about using organic, unbleached cotton… still, procede at your own risk :)
I do have some (unbleached, I think?) hemp yarn at home that I haven’t used if you want to try an experiment!
OMG! That seems like such a great gift - an awesome stocking stufffer! I want to crochet my own tampons.
What a great idea for a holiday Stitch n Bitch!!
Sounds like fun - those and reusable cloth pad sets. So, is it a party?
It’s a party, for sure. Remind me as it gets closer and we’ll totally do this!
i forgot to say thanks for answering the question that i forgot i asked:))xo
my friend livi has a great plug for the Diva Cup:
http://www.lanternbooks.com/blog/entry.php?id=14
Post on menstrual cups: coming soon!
Can’t wait for the larger post. I use what my mom used, which is an explanation, but not an excuse. I want an alternative, but my few experiments have not turned out well. I’m thinking about moving to the Diva Cup or sea sponges.
the thing about the sea sponge is that since they are living creatures, when they are harvested the biome is directly affected and changed. also, they are very hard to fully clean, and still carry and hold bacteria the same way a tampon would.
i wanted to try them, too, but i was a little too concerned about the cleaning aspects (since you are putting it inside).
if you don’t like traditional style cloth pads, you could always try the menstrual cup or interlabial pads!
Interlabial pads- I’d never heard of them before- are they currently produced and available for purchase?
‘ “…These fibers remain inside a woman’s uterus.”’
Leave fibers in your uterus? How do they get up there? You don’t put tampons in your uterus!
Ahh, those tampon fibers are wiley suckers! They will find a way to get up into your uterus!!
I know, it seems like they would just hang out in your vagina. I have a hard time believing everything goes north and collects inside your uterus. Maybe some stuff would go up there, but since the vagina is a self-cleaning organ, lots the fibers probably get washed out with discharge.
hemp….ouchitch?!….sorry to be the skeptic here but wouldn’t that be awfully leaky n you know sorta er…messy? i’m voting for the natural tampons first but if anyone wants to make me a present…i’d be open to trying (and reporting) on the crocheted one!
i can’t use tampons, actually, because my partner is allergic to them. but anyway, it’s been over a year since i’ve used any sort of disposable menstrual product, and i feel all the better for it.
i like the cup, sometimes, but my real favorite method is cloth pads. nothing beats them.
i use organic tampons but it annoys me that they wrap them in plastic. or at least seventh generation does. anyone know of an organic tampon that isn’t wrapped?
Wow, that’s crazy- Seventh Generation wraps their tampons in plastic?? Write them a note on the subject and let us know what they say! I’ve used Natracare brand, and they’re wrapped in paper, with a paper applicator.
even natracare wraps their non-applicator tampons in plastic. It’s such a small amount, though, for both brands, that i suppose the environmental impact is less than if you had to throw out a bunch of the paper-wrapped (non-applicator) tampons in case they were exposed to moisture…?
(ps, love the site… this is my first comment! ^_^ )
i am totally going to! they don’t have an applicator so i guess they are saving on resources in that way but i do think that the plastic wrapping is pretty silly and unnecessary.
I think that no matter what you use for tampon applicators it is still contaminated and i think im going to continue to use the tampons that have been used for so long instead of having some organic fibers irritating my female parts
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