{"id":511250,"date":"2026-04-03T19:17:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-03T19:17:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/511250\/"},"modified":"2026-04-03T19:17:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-03T19:17:10","slug":"scientists-discover-a-way-to-regrow-damaged-cartilage","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/511250\/","title":{"rendered":"Scientists discover a way to regrow damaged cartilage"},"content":{"rendered":"

About half of the global population\u00a0menstruates at some point in their lives<\/a>. Disposable products, such as tampons and pads, are some of the\u00a0most popular products<\/a>\u00a0used around the globe to manage menstrual flow.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, studies have shown that many personal care products, including shampoo, lotion, nail polish and menstrual products,\u00a0contain hazardous chemicals<\/a>. Items used in or near the vagina are of particular concern because they are in contact with\u00a0vaginal mucous membranes<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 the moist tissue lining the inside of the vagina that secretes mucus. These tissues\u00a0can absorb some chemicals very efficiently<\/a>.<\/p>\n

People use menstrual products 24 hours a day for multiple days monthly, over the course of many years. Tampons, which are used internally, are surrounded by the permeable vaginal mucous membrane for up to eight hours at a time.<\/p>\n

I am an\u00a0environmental epidemiologist<\/a>, and I study chemical exposure, its sources and its health effects. As a person who menstruates, I also must make my own decisions around menstrual products and manage the challenge of finding accurate information about women\u2019s health risks, which\u00a0receive less research attention<\/a>\u00a0and funding<\/a>\u00a0than men\u2019s health.<\/p>\n

In 2024, I co-authored the first paper that detected\u00a0metals in tampons<\/a>, including toxic metals like lead and arsenic. My colleagues and I also wrote a review paper that surveyed the scientific literature and found about two dozen studies\u00a0measuring chemicals in menstrual products<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The various chemicals that these studies detected were typically at concentrations low enough to make their health impact unclear. However, they included chemicals known to\u00a0disrupt the endocrine system<\/a>, which makes and controls hormones that are essential for bodies to function.<\/p>\n

How contaminants get into menstrual products<\/p>\n

The first modern tampon in the U.S. was\u00a0patented in 1931<\/a>. Nearly a century later, tampons still are made primarily from cotton, rayon or a blend of the two.<\/p>\n

Chemicals may get into tampons and other menstrual products in a number of ways. Some chemicals, like heavy metals, are\u00a0present in soil, either naturally or due to pollution<\/a>, and may be\u00a0absorbed by cotton plants<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Other chemicals, such as zinc, may be intentionally added to menstrual products to\u00a0prevent the growth of harmful bacteria<\/a>. Still others, such as\u00a0phthalates<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 synthetic chemicals\u00a0used to manufacture plastics<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 may leach into menstrual products from\u00a0plastic packaging<\/a>\u00a0or be\u00a0added as part of a fragrance<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Research suggests that these chemicals are present in a large proportion of menstrual products \u2013 we found lead present in\u00a0all 30 tampons we tested<\/a>. What we don\u2019t yet know is if these chemicals can get into people\u2019s bodies in a high enough concentration to cause health effects in either the reproductive system or elsewhere in the body.<\/p>\n

Limited federal regulations<\/p>\n

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration\u00a0regulates tampons, menstrual cups and scented menstrual pads<\/a>\u00a0as Class II medical devices, which carry moderate to medium risk. Unscented menstrual pads are Class I medical devices, which are considered low-risk.\u00a0These categories<\/a>\u00a0are based on the risk the device may present to a consumer who uses it in the intended way.<\/p>\n

FDA\u00a0guidance for Class II devices<\/a>\u00a0offers only a few general guidelines with respect to chemicals. For menstrual tampons and pads, it recommends \u2013 but does not require \u2013 that products should not contain two specific dioxin products or \u201cany pesticide and herbicide residues.\u201d Dioxins are a chemical by-product of the bleaching process to whiten cotton, and they are associated with\u00a0cancer and endocrine disruption<\/a>. Using non-chlorine bleaching methods can\u00a0reduce dioxin formation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The most stringent regulation of tampons in the U.S. occurred after an illness called\u00a0toxic shock syndrome<\/a>\u00a0became a public concern in the 1970s and 1980s. Menstrual toxic shock syndrome occurs when the bacteria\u00a0Staphlococcus aureus\u00a0grows in the vagina on inserted menstrual products and releases a toxin called TSST-1. This substance can be absorbed through the vaginal mucosa and cause a variety of symptoms, including\u00a0fever, high blood pressure, shock and even death<\/a>.<\/p>\n

During\u00a0this epidemic<\/a>, in which at least 52 cases were recorded and seven people died over a period of eight months,\u00a0tampons were associated with the syndrome<\/a>\u00a0\u2013 especially a highly absorbent tampon called Rely, which was pulled from the market.<\/p>\n

In response, the FDA\u00a0created a task force<\/a>\u00a0that recommended standardizing the tampon absorbencies and advised consumers to use the lowest absorbency for their flow. This is why tampons in the U.S. now come in a range of absorbencies, from light through regular to super and ultra, so that users can choose the level they need while minimizing risk of toxic shock.<\/p>\n

Living in a \u2018soup of chemicals\u2019<\/p>\n

Just because a chemical is present in a menstrual product doesn\u2019t mean it can get into the body. However, chemicals like\u00a0lead<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0arsenic<\/a>\u00a0are\u00a0known threats to human health<\/a>. So it\u2019s important to study whether harmful chemicals present in menstrual products could contribute to health problems.<\/p>\n

Humans in the modern world live in what\u00a0expert toxicologist Linda Birnbaum<\/a>, former director of the\u00a0National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences<\/a>, calls a \u201csoup of chemicals<\/a>.\u201d Simply being present on Earth means being exposed to many chemicals, at different concentrations, all at once. This makes it difficult to unravel the relationship between a single chemical exposure and health.<\/p>\n

Nonetheless, science has shown that chemical exposure from at least one menstrual product \u2013 vaginal douches \u2013 does affect health.\u00a0Vaginal douching<\/a>\u00a0is the process of washing or cleaning the inside of the vagina with water or other fluids.<\/p>\n

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists\u00a0recommends avoiding this process<\/a>, which can harm healthy bacteria in the vagina, increasing the risk of\u00a0vaginal infections and other diseases<\/a>.<\/p>\n

In addition, a 2015 study found that women who use vaginal douches have higher concentrations of\u00a0a chemical called monoethyl phthalate in their urine<\/a>. Exposure to this substance is associated with\u00a0reproductive health problems<\/a>, such as reduced fertility and increased pregnancy risk.<\/p>\n

Can these chemicals be absorbed?<\/p>\n

Scientists are working now to determine what concentrations of metals and other chemicals can leach out of tampons and other menstrual products. One 2025 study estimated that volatile organic compounds, a group of chemicals that vaporize quickly, can be\u00a0absorbed through the vaginal mucosa<\/a>. Volatile organic compounds may be\u00a0added to menstrual products<\/a>\u00a0as part of fragrances, adhesives or other product components.<\/p>\n

My team and I are now shifting our focus to the relationship between menstrual product use, various chemicals, and menstrual pain and bleeding severity. We want to see whether some chemicals will be elevated in menstrual blood, whether these chemical levels are higher in people who use tampons, and whether the chemicals are associated with greater menstrual pain and bleeding.<\/p>\n

States are starting to act on this issue. For example, in 2024,\u00a0Vermont became the first U.S. state<\/a>\u00a0to ban multiple chemicals from disposable menstrual products. California bans PFAS, a widely used group of\u00a0highly persistent chemicals<\/a>,\u00a0from menstrual products<\/a>. New York adopted a law in December 2025\u00a0barring multiple toxic chemicals<\/a>\u00a0from menstrual products.<\/p>\n

California also\u00a0enacted a law in October 2025<\/a>\u00a0that requires manufacturers of disposable tampons and pads to measure concentrations of arsenic, cadmium, lead and zinc in their products, and to share those measurements with the state, which can publish them. More information like this will help support informed choices for millions of consumers who rely on menstrual products every month.<\/p>\n

This article originally appeared on The Conversation. You can read it here.<\/a><\/p>\n

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