No more toxic tampons: It's to support non-GMO, herbicide-free feminine hygiene products

Tuesday, July 19, 2016 by: Sarah Landers
Tags: toxic tampons, GMO herbicides, feminine hygiene products

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(NaturalNews) There are many reasons to stop using tampons and start using more natural, environmentally friendly alternatives. According to True Activist, 85% of feminine products are contaminated with an extremely dangerous, cancer-causing chemical called glyphosate – which is a commonly used herbicide. That's where a UK-based company called "Time of the Month" or TOTM comes in.

This amazing, ethical company produces sanitary products that are made using cotton that is non-GMO and herbicide-free. This means that you can rest assured that the hygiene products you are using are not leaching harmful chemicals into your most sensitive body part, as reported by TreeHugger.

Problems with conventional sanitary products

Glyphosate is a major component of popular herbicide Roundup, which is produced by Big Agri company Monsanto. According to EcoWatch, Roundup is now routinely sprayed directly on both GMO and non-GMO crops, leading to a variety of serious and debilitating health conditions – such as Alzheimer's, birth defects, cancer, heart disease and autism.

Several countries have banned the sale of glyphosate-containing products; however, there are still products on the shelves that have been exposed to the toxic chemical that most people never stop to consider – for example, sanitary products.

Most of the big brand tampons, pads and liners are created using materials such as rayon which comes from wood pulp – produced using an extremely wasteful process that is not good for the environment. Rayon is bleached with chlorine to make it appear nice and white, and then chemicals are added to increase absorbency.

But rayon can cause irritation, rashes and itching – but that's just what it does to your skin. The chemicals caught inside feminine hygiene products are thought to cause headaches and dizziness. Meanwhile, pads are almost 90% plastic, the same amount of plastic as four grocery bags, according to TreeHugger. That's a huge waste of both wood pulp and plastic caused by every mainstream feminine hygiene product – and used by millions of U.S. women every month.

According to a study in Argentina, 100% of raw cotton and sterile cotton gauze tested positive for glyphosate or its metabolite compound, AMPA. In the same study, 85% of all tampons and sanitary pads were contaminated with glyphosate, which has been labelled as a "probable carcinogen" by the World Health Organization. Do you want to expose your sensitive vagina to that sort of chemical? No, probably not.

Such studies around the glyphosate content of feminine hygiene products would never be conducted at a U.S. university due to pressure and pay-offs by Monsanto.

Time of the Month

The TOTM company is pushing to make periods "greener, safer, and hassle-free for women," according to TreeHugger. The products are made from GMO-free, organic cotton and are fully biodegradable – making them far better for the environment than current mainstream feminine hygiene products.

The TOTM company's products do not disintegrate and release fibers when wet, or leach anything nasty into your body, because they are completely free from herbicides and other chemicals. Disposable products are still not the ideal solution, and according to True Activist there are other options such as a reusable menstrual cup – like DivaCup – or cloth pads that are more comfortable and may work better than disposable products. But let's be honest, it's not always convenient or practical.

TOTM takes convenience one step further and actually offers a bespoke delivery service, whereby you let the company know which products you like and how many you need and they will deliver them to your house on a monthly basis.

Sources include:

TreeHugger.com

TrueActivist.com

EcoWatch.com

NewsTarget.com