Issue 11: Toxic-Free Feminine Care Products
Dudes, read this one too. It's good for you to be armed for the women and girls in your life.
This specific sub is near and dear to my heart. When I started my toxic-free journey, I never considered that products that I don’t absorb in my skin or ingest could harm me.
As a young girl and in my 20s, I struggled with horrible cramps, heavy periods, and uncomfortable periods. These things “run in my family” so I considered them par for the course. However, I don’t think this is necessarily true.
The Problem with Conventional Feminine Care Products
If you consider looking at a box of tampons or pads for the ingredients list, you’re further along than I was when I started. What you’ll find there is… welp, not a lot of information. I never considered what was in my products. Then I switched to Always “Cotton-like” Dry Weave which was really just fancy plastic (though felt like cotton) and was admittedly, a little more comfortable. Little did I know at the time that most pads and tampons are made with synthetic materials and toxins. Consider that tampons actually enter your body and stay there “safely” for up to 8 hrs and it’s a real problem.
As women, our private areas are some of the most sensitive and absorbent parts of our bodies. Sometimes, medicine is used intravaginally because it is absorbed more readily into our bloodstreams through our vaginas.
Most companies who make feminine care products do not disclose what is in their pads or tampons. This is a real issue and a dangerous one.
Don’t Let That Green-Washing Fool You!
Some companies, like Always, will claim that their pads are made from cotton. Maybe they use some cotton in their products. But I remember those pads feeling like plastic, too. Highly processed rayon, polyester, and plastic can all be combined with cotton to produce many of the conventional products we see today.
Conventional cotton is loaded with pesticides. Cotton is usually bleached with chlorine to look pretty and white.
Absorbency
Superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) are made to hold a lot of liquid. These SAPs can be made of sodium polyacrylate which is a synthetic material and a hazard to our environment. It is also suspected to be a hazard to our organ health.
The thin pads aren’t any better. These are manufactured with BPA and/or other bisphenols.
Other Toxins Found in These Products
Dioxins: byproducts of the bleaching process, dioxins have been linked to cancer, are known endocrine disruptors, and could cause problems with the reproductive system
Pesticides: we find these in products that use conventional cotton
Plastics: BPA is linked to cancer. This and other plastic are also linked to endocrine disruption. Plastics also take a toll on our environment.
Coatings: Sometimes tampons are coated with chemicals to make the removal process easier. Things like paraffin (which is non-biodegradable), polyethylene (a plastic), and polyethylene glycol.
Fragrance: I have covered fragrance before. If you can’t determine why putting fragrance in your vagina is bad, you’re NGMI.
Toxic Shock Syndrome or TSS
Most women know about this. It’s drilled into our heads as teenagers during health class. So I’m including this for any men who may not know.
TSS is a life-threatening complication due to certain types of staph bacteria. Anyone can get TSS (source here), but it is warned heavily against with tampons. Most boxes of tampons come with a pamphlet warning about TSS, telling women to change their tampons frequently to avoid it.
What This Has to do with Heavy Cycles and Cramps
When I switched my products, first, over to organic cotton, and then later to reusable products, my cramps lessened in severity. My periods were more tolerable. I can’t tell you how long this took, but it’s a noticeable difference now, years and two kids later. I can’t say this conclusively, but I do think making these changes helped me. Also a menstrual cup has to be changed far less frequently than a tampon and the risk of TSS is less.
Douches/Feminine Wash
Admittedly, I don’t know a ton about these products. The best advice I can give you is to cross check your ingredients against The Dirty Dozen.
Though, I don’t think these things are even in style or popular anymore. I don’t even think they are necessary. Our bodies are clean and natural the way they are made. Wash with a gentle soap and you should be good to go. I will tell you I got one of the worst UTIs of my LIFE when I used a feminine wash in my 20s. NEVER AGAIN.
What to Use Instead
This section isn’t just for women. MEN, if you have daughters and are in charge of making sure they get healthy products for their bodies, read this!
When it comes to tampons and pads:
Look for organic cotton.
Make sure they are fragrance free.
Buy unbleached or bleached without chlorine.
For some tampons, you don’t need an applicator. Alternatively, find ones with a cardboard applicator and avoid plastics entirely.
Other options:
Menstrual cups: find ones made from 100% medical-grade silicone and that aren’t dyed. Make sure you look at the sizing for these as well. Usually it’s listed on the box. I’ll link the one I use below.
Reusable Pads/Liners: make sure organic cotton is the primary fabric and that they aren’t made with any plastic. Wash in a gentle and toxic-free detergent.
Period Panties: these are a game changer. I use the brand Thinx, and they really do work wonderfully. Mine aren’t made from organic cotton, but I believe this company does a wonderful job making their panties. They are safer than conventional pads, and I was able to buy them using my FSA (pre-tax health care expense account).
From the Thinx website FAQ:
“We take customer health and safety seriously, which is why all Thinx Inc. products are rigorously tested for harmful chemicals, and independently certified through STANDARD 100 by OEKO-TEX®, which includes REACH requirements [20.HUS.04850 | HOHENSTEIN HTTI]. We’re proud to say that third party testing has never revealed any harmful chemical levels in Thinx Inc. products.”
Product Recommendations
Some of the following links are affiliate links. If you purchase through these links, I receive a small commission. It doesn't change the price for you. Thank you.
Natracare
I have used both the pads and tampons. They’re very nice.
L.
I used to use these pads. I bought them at Target, but they’re also available on Amazon.
Thinx!
This is a non-affiliate link. I love their period panties. They make a teen line, too.
Diva Cup
This is the menstrual cup I use. Note, it comes in two sizes, so make sure you read the description and find your size! It matters. There are plenty of cups available on the market, use this as a jumping off point or buy this one. I like it and it works well. It does take some getting used to but it’s so much better than tampons.
Next time I will cover some personal care products that are more specific to men. I won’t be writing next week as it’s Thanksgiving week here in the States and I’ll be busy with family, so I’ll see you in two weeks!
Thanks for reading!
-Angel