Plastic. Chlorine. Synthetic Materials. Toxic Chemical Additives. Dyes. Fragrances.
No, thank you!
It can be easy to overlook what goes in our bodies other than what we put on our plates, but what about the feminine hygiene we use? Most women will use around 17,000 pads and/ or tampons in a single lifetime. And since tampons are considered a “medical device” by the Food and Drug Administration, manufacturers are not required to issue a full disclosure of what is in their tampons. I repeat, the companies dictating what we put up close and personal with our lady bits are not held accountable for the scary chemicals they use.
One pack of normal sanitary pads can contain the same amount of plastic as four plastic shopping bags; this adds up to the equivalent of 4,857 plastic shopping bags per woman over the course of a single lifetime. Synthetic and plastic-laden sanitary pads are not just bad news for our planet but also our health. Anything we put inside can easily be absorbed through the mucus membrane and then into our bloodstream. Here are a few unacceptable toxins that might be in your tampon.
PESTICIDES & GLYPHOSATE
Cotton is one of the world’s most heavily sprayed pesticide crops. Non-organic cotton is sprayed with Round-Up, (i.e. glyphosate) when the bud is open so that the herbicide enters the plant completely... so isn’t going to just be washed off in the processing of the cotton. Glyphosate is a cancer-causing agent that the World Health Organization recently ruled as “probably carcinogenic.”This alone is beyond frightening.
PLASTIC
One pack of normal sanitary pads can contain a lot of plastic. Not only is this terrible for the environment, but for your body as well. We hear about the dangers of BPA in plastic water bottles all the time, but what about its presence in our pads?
SYNTHETIC DYES, CHEMICAL ADDITIVES + FRAGRANCES
Conventional tampons have odor neutralizers containing an undisclosed mixture of chemicals that have been linked to endocrine disrupters, allergies, rashes, cancer, birth defects, dryness, and infertility.
CHLORINE
Commonly known brands of tampons are often guilty of chlorine bleaching, a process which exposes women to toxic dioxin and heavy metal residuals from the dyes used to color the withdrawal cord. Choosing organic cotton that’s free from chlorine bleaching not only avoids women’s exposure to potentially carcinogenic chemicals, it also protects the health of farmers and communities living near cotton fields and ensures fair and safe working conditions. Organic cotton helps protect our soils, wildlife and water sources, and produces up to 94% less greenhouse gases than conventional farming.
DIOXIN
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) issued a report stating that dioxins are known to cause cancer, and has also determined that people exposed to high levels of dioxins may be at risk for increased risk of pelvic inflammatory disease (PID), and reduced fertility. Tell me how angry this makes you?
We spent a year researching the best organic options and Natracare is #1 on our list. Period. No pun intended. Not all feminine hygiene products are created equal. Natracare pads and tampons are made from only sustainably-sourced, organic and natural plant-derived materials, and are outspoken and actively involved in helping save women's lives, and their fem environmentalist founder, Susie Hewson, is a powerhouse. She started this mission offering a healthy alternative in feminine hygiene, a better option for the planet.
Learn more & shop: @natracare | natracare.com