After a study found toxic metals in tampons, lawmakers are pressing the FDA to act

Lawmakers are calling on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to do more to address concerns about the ingredients in tampons after a study released earlier this summer found toxic metals in products from over a dozen popular brands.

Members of the Democratic Women’s Caucus called on the FDA to “review and improve the current safety standards for tampons” in a letter sent to Commissioner Dr. Robert Califf on Thursday.

“We urge the FDA to take swift action to ensure that women are safe from harmful and toxic substances in tampons,” they wrote. “We look forward to reviewing your plan to address these concerns and working with you on this issue.”

They did not specify a timeline or next steps.

The letter, a copy of which was shared with NPR, was signed by Reps. Summer Lee of Pennsylvania, Grace Meng of New York and policy task force co-chairs Kathy Manning of North Carolina and Ayanna Pressley of Massachusetts. The Democratic Women’s Caucus includes all Democratic women in the U.S. House of Representatives.

An FDA spokesperson told NPR that the agency "has received the letter and will respond directly to the Caucus."

Safety concerns about tampons, and calls for stronger regulation, are not new. More than a dozen studies in recent years have evaluated the presence of various chemicals in widely used menstrual products, including a 2019 study that found higher concentrations of blood mercury in tampon users (which is cited in Thursday’s letter).

But they intensified in July after a first-of-its-kind study published in Environment International detected amounts of 16 heavy metals — including lead — in various tampons made by 14 common brands, which were not named.

Heavy metals have been linked to all sorts of negative health