Unbelievably, no federal law exists which requires disclosure of ingredients in tampons and pads. This means women are left in the dark about what ingredients they are putting on some of the most sensitive and absorptive tissue on their body.
There have been some efforts to make this a requirement, but none have succeeded yet. Most recently, Representative Grace Meng introduced the Menstrual Products Right to Know Act. Just last year, Seventh Generation, Womens Voices for the Earth, and Rep. Meng went to Capitol Hill to raise awareness among legislators and rally for this bill. We will continue to push for this in 2018.
What's the big deal anyway?
Vaginal tissue is very sensitive, which means we should be extra careful about what’s coming into contact with it. The walls of the vagina are filled with numerous blood vessels and lymphatic vessels, which allows for direct transfer of chemicals in to the circulatory system. In fact, there is considerable interest in vaginal drug delivery systems because the vagina is such an effective site to transfer drugs directly into the blood without being metabolized first.
One study found that a vaginally applied dose of estradiol (an estrogen proxy) resulted in systemic estradiol levels in the body 10 to 80 times greater compared to the same dose given orally. So, you should really know what the heck is in the products you use around the vagina.
The whole truth.
Right now, some companies tell you a little bit about what’s in their products. While tampon and pad manufacturers aren’t required to disclose ingredients, many do include some basic information on their packages about the ingredients — unless they use fragrance. A ‘fragrance’ in a product can be made up of 50-200 different ingredients, many for which health data simply doesn’t exist. This black box means that you could be exposing your body to fragrance ingredients without even knowing it.
We can do better.
Forward-thinking companies are already doing the right thing for women by voluntarily disclosing the ingredients used in their products. And leaders like Seventh Generation are taking the extra step to advocate for transparency industry-wide.
Together, we can tell Congress that we have the right to know what’s in the products we use so intimately. Congress can do their part by enacting a very simple, common-sense law.
