SAFE wants new tampons in bathrooms

By Shauna Mecartea
Daily Bruin Reporter

While the question of tampon safety is debated by many, Students
for the Advocacy of Female Edification are fighting for 100 percent
cotton tampon availability in UCLA campus bathrooms.

According to SAFE and other researchers, popular tampons contain
a harmful byproduct, dioxin, because of the chlorine-bleaching
process.

Dioxin is an environmental pollutant and was deemed last year as
a “human carcinogen” by the Environmental Protection
Agency.

Although dioxin has been proven to be carcinogenic, it has not
been proven that cancer and other serious health problems result
because of tampon use.

“We want to educate women regarding these issues so that
they can make their own choice,” said SAFE President Melody
Kulp, a fourth-year political science student.

Tampons are used by 73 million American women ““ almost one
third of the population ““ and one woman may use as many as
16,800 tampons in her lifetime, according to research by
Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, D-N.Y., a leader in women’s
health issues.

The FDA and tampon corporations like Tampax affirm that dioxin
is nonexistent in the manufacturing process. The materials used in
tampons, like the bleached wood pulp, could contain trace amounts
of dioxin because of environmental pollution.

“Tampons are safe and effective,” said Sharon
Snider, a FDA press officer.

The FDA regulates tampon manufacturers, making sure they adhere
to the manufacturing guidelines.

While the Food and Drug Administration says that dioxin levels
in tampons are either below or at the detectable limit, others say
even that small amount is a health threat to women.

“Dioxin equals cancer,” Kulp said. “The fact
that it’s “˜minute’ does not matter ““
it’s in your body and in an absorbent part of your
body.”

Because dioxin stays in the body and is stored in the fatty
tissues of humans and other animals, opponents say that repetitive
exposure to dioxin may lead to serious health problems like
endometriosis, infertility and immune system damage.

While the debate continues, many legislative literature
regarding further research of tampon toxicity is being
introduced.

Maloney put forth the “Tampon Safety and Research Act of
1999,” which later merged with the Robin Danielson Act, to
conduct further research into the potential harmful affects of
dioxin in tampons and to collect and analyze data on Toxic Shock
Syndrome, a sometimes-fatal disease that is most often linked to
tampon users.

The act was introduced to the House this year but has been
referred to the health subcommittee and is waiting to reach the
floor.

“It’s appalling that there isn’t enough
research being done,” said Maloney’s Spokeswoman Nicole
Harburger. “The government should invest time and money into
researching these rumors.”

Opponents also argue that because dioxin is already in the
environment, women have more contact with the carcinogen because of
their regular use of tampons.

Some are also concerned by the use of the synthetic material
derived from wood pulp, rayon.

A study published in Infectious Diseases in Obstetrics and
Gynecology states that the use of all-cotton tampons may reduce the
risk of TSS. Other sources have rendered rayon a “breeding
ground for bacteria” as well.

But Senior Scientist Jay Gooch at the Tampax company said that
these allegations are not true.

“Rayon and cotton are equally safe materials,” Gooch
said. He also added that all tampons are potential risks for
TSS.

Tampons are made with rayon, not to cut costs, but to better fit
the tampon to the woman’s body, Gooch said. After the
recrystallization process, rayon fibers, unlike cotton fibers, are
more flexible, allowing manufacturers to shape tampons
accordingly.

But Gooch said the bleaching process does not make dioxin and
that the bleaching is necessary to rid the wood pulp of impurities,
not to just “whiten” the product.

But opponents of rayon and cotton/rayon blend tampons say that
totally chlorine-free bleaching processes are the only way to
safely purify tampons.

Organic Essentials, a small company that produces 100 percent
cotton tampons, uses hydrogen peroxide to bleach its tampons.

“We want to offer women a healthier alternative,”
said Amber Cruz, Organic Essentials marketing and sales manager.
“Anything synthetic should not be inserted into your
body.”

Gooch said hydrogen peroxide could be used but that elemental
chlorine-free bleaching acts in the same safe way.