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Why Vaseline is better than you think it is
by Mareike Steger
Hidden danger? - Heavy metals and plasticisers discovered in tampons
17/4/2025
Translation: machine translated
Laboratory tests show: Menstrual products contain harmful substances that don't belong in them. Find out what's in the products and how harmful tampons really are here.
A menstruating woman uses a total of 7400 tampons in her lifetime, assuming that she uses four tampons four days a month between the ages of 12 and 51. That is quite a considerable amount. Especially when the associated health risks are taken into account.
Lead, argon and cobalt
How high the exact amount of heavy metals in the tampons is, however, could not be clarified in the study due to the small number of samples. The study also did not investigate the direct health consequences of exposure to the pollutants or the extent to which they could have long-term effects on the body.
Warning? Consequences for health
Plasticisers and glyphosate
Favourable: Most of them do not contain any critical ingredients
No harmful substances were detected in five of the eight products tested. The ProComfort Normal tampons from the brand o.b. took first place with a score of «very good», as they had the best absorbency and contained no plasticisers.
Only in the organic cotton tampons from Natracare
the laboratory found traces of Ampa, the degradation product of the controversial glyphosate. This put the product in last place in the test. According to the manufacturer, the weedkiller could either be a by-product of the bleaching process of the bio-tampons or come from the tap water.
Health consequences
The quantity makes the poison
Summarised: In principle, the BfG considers tampons to be unproblematic - the quantity of problematic ingredients is too small to cause any harm to health. It is much more important that tampon wearers keep an eye on toxic shock syndrome.
However, all research institutes emphasise the importance of informing buyers about the substances and ingredients in the products because, according to K-Tipp, there is still no mandatory declaration for tampons. Nevertheless, some manufacturers have responded to K-Tipp's enquiry and have declared that they are taking measures to improve their products.
More on the topic of menstruation:
An alternative to period products is not to use any at all. Maike Schuldt-Jensen shows how to do this in her article on free menstruation.
And you can read why menstruation isn't just cramps and mood swings in Natalie Hemengül's article.
Header image: Stefanie Lechthaler
Painting the walls just before handing over the flat? Making your own kimchi? Soldering a broken raclette oven? There's nothing you can't do yourself. Well, perhaps sometimes, but I'll definitely give it a try.
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