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.

[Hawkeye's Girl]

I'd make a comment, except I really don't know what to say. Everything I've read about TSS has said it's no longer a vaild concern.

[Xenalyte]

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

[Hawkeye's Girl]

I agree with that. Unfortunately, I don't think a scientific article on the subject would make the local health section.

[rintense]

But Endometriosis Association members are concerned that even at very low levels dioxin in tampons could contribute to the painful reproductive disease that affects an estimated 6 million women and often leads to infertility. The organization believes the risk posed by dioxin outweighs any benefits tampons may provide, Castrodale says

As someone who has experience with both, I can say that the benefits of using them far outweigh the risks. And as an athlete, there is no way I'd be able to play the sports I do- as intensely as I do- if it weren't for the cotton plugs. ;-)

So I'll trust my doctor long before I trust this congresswoman.

[Lijahsbubbe]

To me, the fact that the tampon industry still has women shoving cardboard into their most vulnerable are shows they don't have too much concern for us.

Here, here's a piece of cardboard for ya. Gee thanks. They haven't evolved at all.

[Lijahsbubbe]

Oh yeah, plus this piece of cardboard and cotton is so high tech it's gonna cost you an arm and a leg. Just like your bras, underwear and bathing suits.

[IronJack]

Has any woman ever died from dioxin poisoning after using a tampon? By the figures cited in this article, after literally millions of tampons have been used, not a single death can be attributed to this factor. Yet we're supposed to believe that it's a "troubling" situation?

I hope nobody would get the wrong idea if I called this a tempest in a teapot.

[Willie Green]

There should be a 5-day cooling off period, an FBI background check and purchases limited to one per month.

[vetvetdoug]

A friend warned me once, Don't trust anything that bleeds for a week and doesn't die.

[TC Rider]

Who has deep pockets? The wood and pulp industry

I smell class action suits against the industry.

Congresswoman Maloney should go after this the same way she goes after guns and try to ban all tampons. heh heh

If only one life is saved, it's worth it. heh heh

[uvular]

It is odd that a college student would ask a congresswoman that question, isn't it? I wonder if this college student is like all those people that lil' Dick Gephart occasionally mentions ('I met a man last week that told me he didn't want his taxes reduced', etc.)?

Who the heck knew there were Tampon Lobbyists??! Ed Garvey, Tampon Lobbyist-sounds like a great premise for a really gross tv show....

[Cicero]

Notice also the way this article shuffles around the accusation that if women are dying of tampons it's the Republicans' fault. They have this little men's club that doesn't care about the health and safety of women and other members of the victim classes.

[reformed_dem]

I hope nobody would get the wrong idea if I called this a tempest in a teapot.

Don't you mean a tampon in a teapot?

sorry

[TADSLOS]

I'd just like someone to show me how to make the ones with wings fly.

[RS]

""We think it makes sense to err on the side of caution," Ballweg says."

I agree... take them all off the market immediately until after many sequential 30 year tests have been performed. Even the smallest suspicion by a single doctor ( or hollywood type that played a doctor ) should be enough to cause the recall of every single one of this product, a house to house search to confiscate all of them, and reparations to be paid to everyone who was ever exposed to the products advertising.

[Arpege92]

"A friend warned me once, Don't trust anything that bleeds for a week and doesn't die."


I've heard that one before but let me add something to it. You wouldn't be here if your dad was experiencing trust issues. LOL...

[Mygirlsmom]

IMHO the world's best kept secret: Instead Feminine Protection Cups. You can find 'em at Walgreens or online. Once you use them you will never go back.

[stanz]

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

[Amelia]

I was thinkingn the other day that we hadn't heard anything about dioxin for quite a while....

Not that I was complaining, mind you, just wondering why the media had lost interest in that bogeyman....

[scouse]

And as an athlete, there is no way I'd be able to play the sports I do- as intensely as I do- if it weren't for the cotton plugs. ;-)

This gives rise to the question: "Could a female athlete wearing the cotton plugs, but also carrying a blood borne pathogen, be in danger of spreading this pathogen to people who may be using the same swimming pool"?