Metals in Tampons: Should You Be Worried?

In June 2026, FDA scientists published a peer-reviewed study on metals in tampons. The news spread quickly online and understandably caused concern. My patients started asking too: are arsenic, cadmium, and lead really present in tampons, and could they be harmful?

Let's look at what the study actually found and what the results mean for people who use tampons.

A little background

Concerns about metals in tampons are not new. In 2024, researchers tested 30 tampons from 14 brands purchased in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Greece. They detected 16 metals and metalloids, including arsenic, cadmium, and lead.

That study received a lot of attention, but it had an important limitation. Researchers measured the total amount of metals in the tampon material after dissolving the samples. They did not determine how much could be released during use, absorbed through the vaginal lining, or enter the bloodstream.

These are the questions FDA scientists attempted to answer in the newer study.

What did the FDA study examine?

Researchers tested:

All of the products were legally marketed in the United States.

The researchers analyzed 21 metals and metalloids and detected 19 of them, including arsenic, cadmium, lead, calcium, zinc, iron, nickel, and antimony.

It is important to understand that not all of these elements carry the same risk. Calcium, iron, and zinc, for example, are essential nutrients. Arsenic, cadmium, and lead can be toxic, but detecting them does not automatically mean a product is dangerous. What matters is how much is released and how much can actually enter the body.

The study used deliberately strict laboratory conditions

The researchers used conservative, exaggerated conditions designed to avoid underestimating potential exposure:

You may be wondering why the researchers used such extreme conditions.

The goal of a toxicological risk assessment is to avoid missing a potential risk. Scientists therefore use a strict worst-case scenario and determine whether the estimated exposure would remain below levels expected to cause harm.

The researchers did not measure metal levels in women's blood or tissues. This was a laboratory-based toxicological assessment, not a clinical study involving tampon users.

What did the study find?

Metals were present in the tampon materials. However, the amount released into the test solution was much lower than the total amount found after the tampon material was completely dissolved. This is the key point.

A laboratory can dissolve an entire tampon and measure every trace of metal in the cotton or rayon. But that does not mean all of that metal will be released during use, much less absorbed into the body.

For each metal, the researchers calculated a margin of safety. A value above 1 means the estimated exposure is below the level at which toxicological harm would be expected.

The margins of safety in the study ranged from 7 to 2,017. Even the lowest value remained above the safety threshold. Based on these calculations, the authors concluded that the metals found in the tested tampons presented negligible toxicological concern.

Actual exposure during normal use is likely to be even lower. A separate physiological model discussed in the paper estimated that less than 0.5% of the lead released from a tampon may be absorbed. The main risk assessment, however, conservatively assumed 100% absorption.

How does this compare with exposure from food?

Metals and metalloids are naturally present in the environment. We are exposed to small amounts through food, water, and air. Still, any comparison must be made carefully, because dietary and vaginal exposure involve different routes and rates of absorption.

To understand the general scale of the numbers, we can look at estimates from the European Food Safety Authority. EFSA estimated that average dietary exposure to inorganic arsenic among adults in different European studies ranged from 0.03 to 0.15 micrograms per kilogram of body weight per day.

For a 132-pound (60-kg) adult, that would equal approximately 1.8 to 9 micrograms of inorganic arsenic per day.

In the FDA study, the maximum amount of arsenic released from one tampon under exaggerated laboratory conditions was 0.005 micrograms. For six tampons, that would be approximately 0.03 micrograms.

This is not a direct comparison and should not be interpreted as independent proof of safety. Dietary and vaginal exposure are different, and absorption may not be the same. The comparison is useful only for understanding the general scale of the amounts involved.

Cotton, rayon, or organic?

The study did not show that cotton, rayon, or organic tampons were consistently safer than the others.

Rayon products contained higher levels of some metals, including barium, lithium, and zinc. Cotton products contained higher levels of calcium, iron, strontium, and vanadium.

The composition varied, but no category was consistently better across all metals. An organic label does not guarantee that a tampon is free of metals, because cotton can absorb naturally occurring elements from soil, water, and the surrounding environment.

What questions remain?

The results are reassuring, but the study has important limitations.

Researchers tested only 11 products sold in the United States, and the specific brands were not disclosed. Scented tampons were not included. All testing was performed in a laboratory rather than in people using tampons.

The researchers also evaluated the metals individually. They did not fully assess the combined effects of multiple metals or total exposure from food, water, air, occupation, and the environment. The study mainly evaluated systemic toxicological risk and did not specifically assess possible local effects on vaginal tissue.

For these reasons, the results cannot provide an absolute safety guarantee for every tampon sold in every country. However, the available evidence also does not support the claim that the metals detected in tampons make them dangerous.

What do I think as an OB-GYN?

Put simply: based on this study, there is no reason to stop using tampons solely because of concerns about metals. In the products tested, the amounts released were very small, and the study authors did not expect them to cause harm even under a strict worst-case assessment.

As an OB-GYN, I am more concerned about the rare but well-established risk of toxic shock syndrome than about the metal levels found in this study. This is why it is important to change tampons every four to eight hours, never leave one in for longer than eight hours, and use the lowest absorbency needed for your flow.

If a tampon causes dryness, pain, or discomfort, consider another option, such as pads, a menstrual cup, a menstrual disc, or period underwear. There is no single menstrual product that is right for everyone, and the best choice is usually the one that matches your anatomy and flow.

The main takeaway is simple: detecting a substance does not automatically mean it is present at a dangerous level. What matters is how much is released, how much is absorbed, and whether that amount is high enough to affect health. In the tampons tested, the amounts released were very small.

Sources

Disclosure: Dr. Elena Dolgan is an OB-GYN and the creator of the Leia Menstrual Cup. This article is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for individualized medical advice.

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