How safe are tampons? Truth is, we just don't know

The Chicago Tribune via The Saint Paul Pioneer Press ^ | Sat, Mar. 08, 2003 | MELISSA KNOPPER

[Hawkeye's Girl]

Seven years ago, a college student approached Carolyn Maloney, a congresswoman from Queens, N.Y., and asked her a question: Are tampons safe?

The young woman, who was working on a class project, wanted to know whether the synthetic materials, chemical glues and dioxin residue from bleaching would cause health problems. Maloney didn't know the answer, so she did some digging.

[Lijahsbubbe]

I think that's it exactly.

[stanz]

I wasn't being sarcastic like you were, just honest. That was my opinion. Or do I have to ask you if I can state my opinion? Besides, I was addressing my response to Doug who obviously doesn't know anything firsthand about menstruating.

[hellinahandcart]

I'm not entirely sure that a Congresswoman is the place to go for scientific information.

I *am* entirely sure that Carolyn Maloney is the wrong Congresswoman to seek out for anything of importance.

That airhead happens to be my representative (sigh)...

[Happygal]

The only thing that really annoys me about tampons and other sanitary products is that there is VAT (sales tax) on them (at least here in Ireland).

The government puts VAT on all luxury items. I don't think tampons are exactly a luxury.

[hellinahandcart]

Be sure to drop us a note before you leave...we would love to hear from you!

Dear GLADRAGS:

Since the only way I'm going to get these reusable pads sanitary enough for re-use is to give them a good soaking in some dioxin-rich BLEACH, how are they any healthier for my body than the kind I pay pennies for and use only once?

And why did you make them paisley? Is is so it will be less obvious what I'm beating clean against the rocks down at the ol' riverside, after you've decided that washers and dryers have too much negative impact on the environment too?

[RightOnTheLeftCoast]

Somebody explain something to me. I've wondered about this for a long time: considering how they're, um, applied, why aren't they called tampins?

[foolscap]

The only thing that really annoys me about tampons and other sanitary products is that there is VAT (sales tax) on them (at least here in Ireland). The government puts VAT on all luxury items. I don't think tampons are exactly a luxury.

That is strange. I guess I like the American concept of a luxury item being something like a yacht. Are pads considered to be a luxury item also?

[Happygal]

Yup! The only items that escape VAT in Ireland are childrens clothes and shoes.

[Lizavetta]

If that's supposed to be funny, it's not.

I second that.

[Hawkeye's Girl]

Plus, any adhesive would eventually wear off, so I guess you'd have to put velcro on the back or something.

[VermiciousKnid]

I seem to remember oh...nearly 20 years ago now that ONE girl died after using Rely tampons (the best ever made, IMO). Rely was promptly taken off the shelves.

Since that time, I have not heard of a single reported case of TSS.

Regards,

[P.O.E.]

What did women use before the advent of disposables? I'm not trying to be funny, I just always wondered. Like, say 200 years ago. Or a thousand years ago.

[hellinahandcart]

No adhesive. Check out the site. The pads fit into a liner, which snaps around the crotch of the panties.

And they are $9.50 apiece.

[Hawkeye's Girl]

Well, I can't remember where I read it, but one culture made females live in a little hut outside the village for a week or something.

[hellinahandcart]

Last time I read the Toxic Shock info that comes in every box of tampons, there were about 10,000 cases of TSS per year. Men, boys, and nonmenstruating women and girls also get it. That's because it's caused by bacteria, not by tampons.

[error99]

"...who obviously doesn't know anything firsthand about menstruating..."
- - -
You are obviously well versed in the topic.
...and it shows in your posts.

[hellinahandcart]

Rags. Literally.

Of course, that was after the invention of the loom. I suppose before that they would have had to use leather or mammoth dung or something.

[P.O.E.]

That's what I figured. Then I started wondering how they washed them, where they stored them until wash day etc. I had to stop thinking about it.

If I had to vote on it, I guess I'd either say disposables or the separate village thing.

[IronJack]

Toxic shock has never been directly linked to dioxin anyway. So we have one death, out of millions upon millions of uses, with no direct correlation to dioxin poisoning.

While no great consumer of tampons myself, I don't think this is any particular cause for concern.

[hellinahandcart]

It's really ironic, but "enviro-feminists" are not going to be happy until we're all trapped in the house again (all the time, not just during our periods) doing laundry by hand, grinding our own corn, and basically wearing ourselves out getting food on the table, just like in the good old days---rather than harm the planet with our wanton consumerism and selfish desire for a little damned convenience.