After a Study Found Lead in Tampons, Environmentalists Wonder if Global Metal Pollution Is Worse Than They Previously Thought

It's from the soil in which the cotton grew. And the levels were low.

Makes sense, its also how microplastics are getting everywhere.
Still a big concern though, even if it is low levels
- Oh, did you read it?
  “It is important to understand that the trace amounts of metals reported in the study are so low that they fall within the FDA safe food intake recommendations. These amounts are also naturally found in water, soil, and air, and do not pose a health risk,” the statement said.
  oh, look, low levels.
  Schilling and her co-researchers said there were a range of possible explanations for the presence of the metals in tampons—the cotton used to make them, for example, might have absorbed the substances from the water, air or soil while growing.
  oh, look, it's from the cotton.

So there's plastic accumulating in testicles and lead contamination in the tampons. The future is insane.

In all seriousness though, when I was having the water tested at my house a few years ago, I was told there's no safe amount of lead to have in drinking water, and everything I looked up agreed with that.

So now I'm confused. Either there's safe levels or not. Or do they mean any amount that sets off this standardized test strip is unsafe?

I'm sure these researchers are using more sensitive tests, but corporations at least deserve the side eye and an investigation for the 'no lead' rule not applying to their products. Especially products like tampons...something that's in contact with mucus membranes for hours at a time.

Hey, so I am by no means an expert but have experience in environmental public health. We talk a lot about risk mitigation. A lot of people smarter than me measure what chemicals are appropriate levels in certain products. Because while yes, it is true that no amount of lead is good for you, there are so many factors that come into play that you have to contend with the fact that there will be a number of chemicals that will be occurring within our environment that can’t always be controlled, so they end up in our products. It’s a really fascinating field, I have a textbook recommendation that’s really good if anyone is interested - it isn’t open-source, though. :/
Microplastics are affecting both sides of the coin, well...everything to be honest. But they're hormone disruptors on both sides as far as I know. But I haven't given it the greatest of looks. Because while knowledge is power, there's really only so much cack you can take in before everything seems so sad and hopeless. So, eh. It is what it is.
I think the reality is that you cannot really have mass-produced no-lead option. But I am not sure because I am not an agriculturist, a geologist, or a chemist. Because I believe a majority of crops (if not all!?) contain heavy metals to some extent. So it's ultimately about limiting that exposure and keeping levels down I suppose. But hell if I know what happens in this situation when the chemical gains direct exposure to the body instead of being processed through the digestive system. I am guessing it's probably a similar process as when you get a shot, but idk and I am all outta shits to give on the subject.
- I guess I just expected the fda to investigate and figure out which sources of cotton have the highest contamination rates... or something.
  Then finding a way to remove the lead? I don't know... it's fiber. We treat and process it constantly. Lead removal doesn't seem insane to me I guess... but maybe it is?
  Instead we got the fda saying it's fine and shrugging their shoulders.
  You're probably right and this is a sign of acceptance about how fucked we are pollution wise. Damn.
There are no "safe levels of lead", it's toxic as-is and bio-accumulates in the body, which is the main problem. It also doesn't matter in what chemical-compound or what route the lead comes in, it's still toxic as a heavy element.
Why is everything laced with lead then? Well, it's fantastically useful and cheap element, with wide applications... Paint, pipes, bullets, leaded petrol (the absolute worst incident), batteries, radiation-shielding, it was/is on everything. It's entirely a man-made problem.
Except modern day reality is that if we keep using it we'll all die or at least become dummer. This cost is obviously greater than banning/avoiding all uses of lead in the first place. In the science circles they are betting if a some new magic material contains lead, it'll never (or is allowed to) exit the lab.

I can't wait to lose arguments on the Internet in 50years from kids calling me a zoomer with microplastic poisoning. Karma for all the boomers with lead poisoning I've made fun of 😭

Lol.
In 50 years you'll be dead from the earth is on fire and uninhabitable poisoning.
- Honestly I am of the opinion that climate change is far less of an existential threat to humanity than mutually assured destruction was. Ecosystems are gonna collapse and lots of people are going to die. I think the true climate change doomer pill isn't that it's too late and the world is doomed, it's that the people living in the global north will not make the sacrifices needed to stop the climate catastrophes that will happen in the global south. We could all go vegan tomorrow and cause the largest single decrease in greenhouse emissions. We could all stop buying products that are made unsustainably and unethically in countries that are supposedly no longer colonised. But we won't. No one will pay higher prices for the same products. No one will make an effort to change their lifestyle. And no one will care that other people, far away, will die because of it. Entire cultures will be erased and we will not lose sleep over knowing that we let it happen because it was easier than doing something about it.

Well, the Irish do call them bullets. Guess they're ahead of the curve.

Yes, it's a huge issue. We need to ban use of vehicles in fields as soon as we are able to wean off them. Tires and exhaust all leave heavy metals and other carcinogenic compounds in our fields which get taken up into our food/crops itself. We need to bioremediate all of our fields and use drone fleets in the future to reduce pollution.

I am always so baffled at how highways are allowed to run next to things like say...great lakes or entire farms and people think "that's the produce I wanna eat!" It also makes gardens in a city feel so sad. But you gotta grow what you want, with what you've got.

Who wronged you?
- I'm reading my comment and it is still funny to me. I'm just a bad person I guess.