Since you mentioned that you use Tampax Pearl, please be assured that none of our feminine care products contain dioxin. We are aware that false information about dioxins in tampons and pads can be found on the Internet so I wanted to provide you with the facts.

You also mentioned bleaching and chemicals so some facts about that too: Purification (bleaching) is an essential part of the process required to make pulp, cotton, and rayon in pads and tampons pure and absorbent. Fiber whitening is a result of this process but not its goal. The most advanced, government-approved testing methods indicate that the bleaching methods we use do not form dioxin and that there is no dioxin in our products. The bleaching methods used by our suppliers (known as Elemental Chlorine-free [ECF] or Totally Chlorine-Free [TCF]) have been established by the US Environmental Protection Agency as standards for the pulp and paper industry.

For further clarification about biodegradable materials, I want to add that today’s landfills pack the garbage in really tightly (and I am assuming that most women are disposing of their pads in the garbage to be handled by their community’s municipal solid waste process). Therefore, there is very little, if any, light, water or air that the reaches the garbage. As a result, it doesn’t matter if the material would be biodegrable in conditions outside a landfill, such as cotton or newspaper; it isn’t when disposed of in a landfill.

While the Internet is an excellent resource for health and medical information, users must be aware that some of what they read may not be factual or based on sound scientific research. Lastly, please know that I understand that your tampon choice is yours to make and everyone has different preferences. However, I would hope that you would make that decision based on your needs and not false information.

You can go to the FDA.gov or EPA.gov to learn more.