A new study claims arsenic and lead are among 16 chemicals in 14 tested brands.

Tampons, one of the most commonly used menstrual products for women, contain several toxic metals, including arsenic and lead, the University of California Berkeley said in a press release with reference to a new study in the journal Environment International.

UC Berkeley researchers, in collaboration with counterparts at Columbia University in New York, were the first to measure heavy metals in tampons, certifying the presence of 16 chemicals in 14 brands they had tested.

"Concerningly, we found concentrations of all metals we tested for," said Jenni A. Shearston, a public health postdoctoral student and the lead author of the new paper.

Along with arsenic and lead, they found cadmium, copper, iron, mercury, and nickel, without specifying which brands had been tested.

Metal levels varied based on several factors, such as whether the tampons were from the United States or Europe and whether they were organic or not. "No category had consistently lower concentrations of all or most metals," the press release says. For example, while organic tampons had lower lead concentrations than non-organic ones, they had higher arsenic levels.

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These metals could enter tampons through various routes. The cotton used in tampons might absorb metals from the air, water, or soil, or it could be contaminated by nearby pollution sources like lead smelters. More concerning is the hypothesis that some chemicals might be added during manufacturing as antibacterial agents, whiteners, pigments, or through other industrial processes – which is still a guess rather than certainty.

While it's alarming that a product used by a majority of menstruating individuals contains such chemicals, the researchers urge caution and call for more information in order to avoid panic. However, menstrual product manufacturers have a responsibility to address this issue.

One of immediate solutions is the appropriate labeling of such products in order to inform consumers of risks. Testing products for hazards from time to time is helpful too, the study’s authors recommended.

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Arsenic is a notoriously toxic heavy metal. It occurs naturally in many minerals, usually in combination with sulfur and metals, but also as a pure elemental crystal. The primary use of arsenic is in alloys of lead - for example, in car batteries and ammunition – and is a common n-type dopant in semiconductor electronic devices.

Lead is a neurotoxin that accumulates in soft tissues and bones. It damages the nervous system and interferes with the function of biological enzymes, causing neurological disorders ranging from behavioral problems to brain damage, and also affects general health, cardiovascular, and renal systems.

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