(WXYZ) — A new study released last week found several metals inside of commonly used tampon products.
Researchers at the University of California Berkeley tested 30 tampons across 14 different brands for levels of 16 different metals. The list of metals included arsenic, barium, calcium, cadmium, cobalt, chromium, copper, iron, manganese, mercury, nickel, lead, selenium, strontium, vanadium, and zinc. Some of the metals listed have been found to increase the risk of dementia, infertility, diabetes, and cancer, according to the study.
"I’m not surprised unfortunately but it does make me really frustrated," said Sarah Grezlik from Franklin. "I think women’s health in general is such a hot topic and I wonder the more we learn, the better we can do especially about putting things directly into our bodies."
While tampon users like Franklin say the news will likely change the choices they make, other women say they need more information before acting.
"I actually saw something about the tampons this morning when I was scrolling on social media and I was like, 'Wow. I have a whole box of Tampax at home that I didn’t use yet' but I still plan on using," said Faith Faber of Gibraltar. "Just from comments online, I don’t believe it right off the bat but I do believe it’s important to look into."
The study did not identify any potential impacts the metals could be making on consumers' bodies. It also could not identify where the metals were from.
"I wouldn’t freak out right now. This is just information you should know, you should be aware of if you are using these you could potentially be exposing yourself to higher-than-normal levels. But again, we don’t know that yet," said Dr. Jamie Alan who is an associate professor of toxicology and pharmacology at Michigan State University.
"I think the alarming part was we wouldn’t expect these metals to be in this sort of product. We wouldn’t necessarily expect all of these to be there but when you think about it we’re exposed to these metals all day long from a variety of sources and it’s really a high level of exposure over a time period that’s really going to be a problem," said Alan. "We need some of these metals. Some of these metals are in our food, in our enriched breads so it could be a problem. I think what needs to be done next is we need to look at some blood levels of these products or people who are using tampons compared to people who are not."
VIDEO: Dr. Jamie Alan speaks about study that found toxic metals in tampons
Alan says there are alternatives for tampon users who are concerned about any potential impact like menstrual cups, period underwear and pads.
"They don’t know the clinical significance of this. They just know it there. Was (the trace metal) in the soil in which the cotton grew? I don’t know," said Dr. Yuliya Malayev.
Malayev is a gynecologist at DMC Huron Valley-Sinai Hospital. She agrees it's too early to panic and without further research, there's no evidence the products are actually harmful despite the presence of metal.
"These researchers in California did say that no one has been able to replicate this study so it would be interesting to see if this reproducible. Are these results going to be consistent? Because if the next set of researchers doesn’t find as much of these trace metals in the product, maybe it’s not as much of a concern," said Malayev.
Future research is set to test how much of these metals can leach out of the products and be absorbed by the body. Researchers are also expected to look into the presence of other chemicals in tampons.
"It’s not just a women’s issue. It’s an everyone issue and I do hope the more we talk about it and the more we normalize things like this, it moves everything forward and we’re doing more research and making smarter choices," said Grezlik.
The full study can be found here.
