A new study coming out of Argentina recently made headlines after revealing supporting evidence for this shocking stat that confirms all we’ve been preaching about for the past eight years – 85% of cotton-based feminine hygiene products contain glyphosate, a synthetic compound herbicide used as the primary ingredient in Monsanto Roundup to kill weeds (Original Source , English Translation).
Earlier this year, the World Health Organization’s research arm declared glyphosate a probable carcinogen!
But what does this exactly mean for feminine hygiene? Let us help you put two and two together – Probable carcinogens, cancer-causing agents, are being used and verifiably found in the very products that sit in our most absorbent body parts, not only during the 4 – 6 hours of per tampon usage recommended by the FDA, but sometimes also afterwards, when tampon fibers can shred and leave behind residue in the vaginal canal as demonstrated in this video:
Glyphosate might be used to kill the weeds that kill my food source but I don’t want it killing the womb that is my life source! Vaginas are the breeding ground for life – the first meeting grounds for conception where sperm meets egg to nurture the fetus that grows into that beautiful innocent little newborn we all swoon over. Let’s not allow the remnants of dirty questionable toxic herbicides and probable carcinogens be the first compounds to greet the susceptible beauty of fetal development.
Ok, so what’s the alternative? ORGANIC COTTON! This is exactly why we started making our Maxim brand organic tampons eight years ago. Organic cotton is grown the natural way our ancestors used to grow cotton, without the use of harmful pesticides, herbicides or chemicals, like glyphosates. There’s nothing like a good ole’ hoe and shovel to rotate crops. Yes, it may take a little longer, but isn’t it about time we give up our need for instant gratification for the long term benefits of healthier product choices and protecting our planet?
We also take many precautions and pay our ICEA organic certifiers and farmers more money to ensure that the cotton we use to make Maxim tampons is made of the purest and verifiably organic kind so that you don’t have to worry about the probable carcinogenic risks associated with glyphosate. Just look closely on the packaging of our products and you’ll see the ICEA symbol verifying our use of organic cotton.
What will the future of pesticides look like? Vice Magazine recently included Maxim Organic Tampons as one of the key components in the future of periods and we’re excited to see how that transpires over to pesticides. Maybe our disruption of the feminine hygiene market, combined with this new Argentinian study and the WHO’s new classification of glyphosates, will propel “food awakening” activist, Robyn O’Brien’s vision for disruptive farming methods that will “figure out how to use 21st century technology to design a smart pesticide that doesn’t cause harm.”
We bet if Robyn read this post she’d also change her call for “more science on this genetically engineered landscape we now eat from,” to we need more science on this genetically engineered landscape we now BREED from.
Robyn may not yet be aware of the toxins found in menstrual care products, but another #FierceWoman, Congresswoman Carolyn Maloney, is and if she had her way with the Robin Danielson Feminine Hygiene Act, maybe like Argentina, the United States can also take the lead in providing even more supporting evidence for the benefits of organic tampons.
In the meantime, the quest for #healthymenstruation continues and we’ll be right there in the front lines advocating for your health