MAKES YOU THINK ... WOMEN'S HEALTH
All women should read this.
If you are a woman and use pads, but especially if you use tampons, read
this and pass it on to your friends. For the men receiving this email,
please forward it to your friends, significant others, sisters, mothers,
daughters, etc. Thanks!
Check the labels of the sanitary pads or tampons that you are going to
buy the next time and see whether you spot any of the familiar signs
stated in this email. No wonder so many women in the world suffer from
cervical cancer and womb tumors. Have you heard that tampon makers
include asbestos in tampons? Why would they do this?
Because asbestos makes you bleed more, if you bleed more, you're going
to need to use more. Why isn't this against the law since asbestos is so
dangerous? Because the powers that be, in all their wisdom (not), did
not consider tampons as being ingested and, therefore, did not consider
them illegal or dangerous.
This month's Essence magazine mentions 2 manufacturers of a cotton
tampon alternative. The companies are: Organic Essentials @
1-800-765-6491 and Terra Femme @ 1-800-755-0212.
A woman getting her Ph.D. at University of Colorado sent the following:
"I am writing this because women are not being informed about the
dangers of something most of us use: Tampons. I am taking a class this
month and I have been learning a lot about biology and women, including
feminine hygiene. Recently we have learned that tampons are actually
dangerous (for other reasons than TSS). After learning about this in our
class, most of the females wound up feeling angry and upset with the
tampon industry, and I for one, am going to do something about it. To
start, I want to inform everyone I can, and email is the fastest way
that I know how.
HERE IS THE SCOOP: Tampons contain two things that are potentially
harmful:
Rayon (for absorbency), and dioxin (a chemical used in bleaching). The
tampon industry is convinced that we, as women, need bleached white
products in order to view the product as pure and clean. The problem
here is that the dioxin, can lead to very harmful problems for a woman.
Dioxin is potentially carcinogenic (cancer-associated) and is toxic to
the immune and reproductive systems. It has also been linked to
endometriosis and lower sperm counts for men. For both sexes, it breaks
down the immune system.
Last September, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that
there really is no "acceptable" level of exposure to dioxin given that
it is cumulative and slow to disintegrate. The real danger comes from
repeated contact (Karen Couppert "Pulling the Plug on the Tampon
Industry"). I'd say using about 4-5 tampons a day, five days a month,
for 38 years is "repeated contact", wouldn't you? Rayon contributes to
the danger of tampons and dioxin because it is a highly absorbent
substance. Therefore, when fibers from the tampons are left behind in
the vagina (as usually occurs), it creates a breeding ground for the
dioxin. It also stays in a lot longer that it would with just cotton
tampons. This is also the reason why TSS (toxic shock syndrome) occurs.
WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES? Using feminine hygiene products that aren't
bleached and that are all cotton. Other feminine hygiene products
(pads/napkins) contain dioxin as well, but they are not nearly as
dangerous. So, what can you do if you can't give up using tampons? Use
tampons that are made from 100% UNBLEACHED cotton.
Unfortunately, there are very few companies that make these safe
tampons.
They are usually only found in health food stores. Countries all over
the world (Sweden, Germany, British Columbia, etc.) have demanded a
switch to this safer tampon, while the US has decided to keep us in the
dark about it. In 1989, activists in England mounted a campaign against
chlorine bleaching. Six weeks and 50! ,000 letters later, the makers of
sanitary products switched to oxygen bleaching (one of the! green
methods available) (MS magazine, May/June 1995).
WHAT TO DO NOW: Tell people. Everyone. Inform them. We are being
manipulated by this industry and the government, let's do something
about it! Please write to the companies: Tampax (Tambrands); Playtex;
O.B.; Kotex. All the 800 numbers are listed on the boxes. Let them know
that we demand a safe product: ALL COTTON UNBLEACHED TAMPONS...
All women should read this.
If you are a woman and use pads, but especially if you use tampons, read
this and pass it on to your friends. For the men receiving this email,
please forward it to your friends, significant others, sisters, mothers,
daughters, etc. Thanks!
Check the labels of the sanitary pads or tampons that you are going to
buy the next time and see whether you spot any of the familiar signs
stated in this email. No wonder so many women in the world suffer from
cervical cancer and womb tumors. Have you heard that tampon makers
include asbestos in tampons? Why would they do this?
Because asbestos makes you bleed more, if you bleed more, you're going
to need to use more. Why isn't this against the law since asbestos is so
dangerous? Because the powers that be, in all their wisdom (not), did
not consider tampons as being ingested and, therefore, did not consider
them illegal or dangerous.
This month's Essence magazine mentions 2 manufacturers of a cotton
tampon alternative. The companies are: Organic Essentials @
1-800-765-6491 and Terra Femme @ 1-800-755-0212.
A woman getting her Ph.D. at University of Colorado sent the following:
"I am writing this because women are not being informed about the
dangers of something most of us use: Tampons. I am taking a class this
month and I have been learning a lot about biology and women, including
feminine hygiene. Recently we have learned that tampons are actually
dangerous (for other reasons than TSS). After learning about this in our
class, most of the females wound up feeling angry and upset with the
tampon industry, and I for one, am going to do something about it. To
start, I want to inform everyone I can, and email is the fastest way
that I know how.
HERE IS THE SCOOP: Tampons contain two things that are potentially
harmful:
Rayon (for absorbency), and dioxin (a chemical used in bleaching). The
tampon industry is convinced that we, as women, need bleached white
products in order to view the product as pure and clean. The problem
here is that the dioxin, can lead to very harmful problems for a woman.
Dioxin is potentially carcinogenic (cancer-associated) and is toxic to
the immune and reproductive systems. It has also been linked to
endometriosis and lower sperm counts for men. For both sexes, it breaks
down the immune system.
Last September, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reported that
there really is no "acceptable" level of exposure to dioxin given that
it is cumulative and slow to disintegrate. The real danger comes from
repeated contact (Karen Couppert "Pulling the Plug on the Tampon
Industry"). I'd say using about 4-5 tampons a day, five days a month,
for 38 years is "repeated contact", wouldn't you? Rayon contributes to
the danger of tampons and dioxin because it is a highly absorbent
substance. Therefore, when fibers from the tampons are left behind in
the vagina (as usually occurs), it creates a breeding ground for the
dioxin. It also stays in a lot longer that it would with just cotton
tampons. This is also the reason why TSS (toxic shock syndrome) occurs.
WHAT ARE THE ALTERNATIVES? Using feminine hygiene products that aren't
bleached and that are all cotton. Other feminine hygiene products
(pads/napkins) contain dioxin as well, but they are not nearly as
dangerous. So, what can you do if you can't give up using tampons? Use
tampons that are made from 100% UNBLEACHED cotton.
Unfortunately, there are very few companies that make these safe
tampons.
They are usually only found in health food stores. Countries all over
the world (Sweden, Germany, British Columbia, etc.) have demanded a
switch to this safer tampon, while the US has decided to keep us in the
dark about it. In 1989, activists in England mounted a campaign against
chlorine bleaching. Six weeks and 50! ,000 letters later, the makers of
sanitary products switched to oxygen bleaching (one of the! green
methods available) (MS magazine, May/June 1995).
WHAT TO DO NOW: Tell people. Everyone. Inform them. We are being
manipulated by this industry and the government, let's do something
about it! Please write to the companies: Tampax (Tambrands); Playtex;
O.B.; Kotex. All the 800 numbers are listed on the boxes. Let them know
that we demand a safe product: ALL COTTON UNBLEACHED TAMPONS...
