What Does Your Pad Or Tampon Contain?

About 70% of all American women use tampons. On average, a woman will use between 11,000 and 16,000 tampons
in her lifetime.

In fact, tampon-like devices have been used since ancient Rome, where women fashioned devices out of wool to absorb
menstrual flow.

Rolls of grass were used in parts of Africa, and Hawaiian women used ferns.

But what is actually in a modern-day tampon and pads?

Generally, tampons are blends of cotton and rayon, along with synthetic fibers, but each manufacturer's products are different
and considered proprietary. Consumer groups in the United States have been wanting to know more since the 1980s.

A growing environmental movement
and awareness about toxic shock syndrome prompted women to ask what was in these products because manufacturers weren't
required to fully disclose what goes into a tampon or pad.

That's because they are regulated and approved as medical devices by the Food and Drug Administration and full disclosure is not required.






cnn.com