Dioxins and Your Pussy

So, its the red letter days of the month for you, operating on autopilot you go to the nearest revco/ riteaid/pharmor and slap down $3.50 (plus tax)for a box of tampax. You unwrap the crisp white little buggers and insert one into your bloodhole. All is well, so you think.

Ladies, it's time to actually consider those cotton plugs for what they really are.

Here is some important info from the Women's Environmental Network," Tampons are made up of cotton, or a mixture of cotton and rayon. Rayon is made from wood which comes from eucalyptus plants. The wood is pulped and treated with chlorine gas or another chlorine chemical to destroy and remove resins that hold the wood together. The bleached fibers undergo further chemical processing before becoming rayon. The use of chlorine gas created hundred of different chemicals. These include the extremely toxic dioxins. Dioxins can cause cancer and damage the immune system. Chlorine free rayon can be made, but there is no evidence that it exists in tampons. Tampons are not sterile. They are bleached white and packaged separately misleading the consumer into thinking that they are."1

Now, dioxin is really the problem that I am going to concentrate on. What I am concerned about first and foremost is our personal health (and hygiene), the environment, well that's for another issue. Tetrachlorodibensodioxin, commonly known as dioxin, is one of the dealiest substances ever produced. "Dioxin, a by-product of chlorine bleaching, is a known carcinogen. It accumulates in fatty tissues of animals including humans and has been linked (even at low levels) to cancer, endometriosis, low sperm counts and immune system suppression. A 1994 Environmental Protection Agency study estimates that dioxin and related compounds are responsible for between one in 1,000 and one in 10,000 of all cancers."2 For info on the environmental horrors of dioxins, please read Rachel Carson's Silent Spring(1962). For more info on the horrors of dioxins and your pussy, please read on.

"In 1992, a congressional subcommitee charged with overseeing the FDA stumbled on an exchange of memos regarding reports the FDA had decided to make public. It seems that several FDA scientists had discover trace levels of dioxin in some commercially produced tampons. Citing studies that indicated dioxin was unsafe at any level- not only carcinogenic, but toxic to the immune system and a cause of birth defects. Subcommittee chair Ted Weiss accused the FDA of deliberately downplaying the danger to women. Weiss's staff had uncovered a March 1989 memo stating that the risk of dioxin in tampons 'can be quite high.' While the memo advised that 'the most effective risk-management strategy would be to assure that tampons... contain no dioxin, 'the FDA never tested tampons. Furthermore, the agency felt confident deleting the following sentence from its final report on dioxin and medical devices: '[I]t appears that the most significant risks may occur in tampon products.'"2

Now we know that our tampons we are supposed to be trusting are potentially cancerous, and that the feds are not looking out for the best interests of womyn.(Surprised?)

Another matter is that of finance. We wymmin can plan on spending over $2137 on tampons (and pads) during our breeding years. We are talking about a billion dollar industry that doesn't care about the integrity of it's products. Like undertakers and obstetricians, they can count on a steady flow. And while I"m on a roll here, explain the tax code again to me please. Luxuries taxed, necessities not taxed. Are tampons and pads a luxury? We should just bleed all over town to protest this taxation. The Boston Blood Party.

Are you feeling hopeless? Dreading the next visit from Tantra Rose? Not ready to allow another dioxin cocktail to pass through your luscious lips? Lucky for you we sluts have done some research into the real options that do exist for us.

They are: natural fiber and organic tampons, reusable and attractive cloth pads (with lots of lovely accessories), sea sponge tampons, and the most curious of all, "The Keeper". (Tampax "Naturals" ARE made from unbleached cotton, but do you really want to support a corporation that has been poisoning your puss for so long?) To date, we have not tried many of these products, but we intend to. I have included ordering info for the various products with this article. Please try them and give us your feedback. (next page)

Ordering Info

Terra Femme tampons are composed of 100% medical-grade cotton; the oxygen bleaching process hygienically sterilizes and softens the cotton fibers. This ecologically sound method does not release harmful chemicals into the environment or women's bodies.

The Keeper is a reusable menstrual cup of pure gum rubber. It's about 2 inches long and is shaped somewhat like a large cervical cap, but it does not sit up against the cervix, but lower in the vaginal canal.

The best things about it are not having to carry disposable around with you, or run to the store, or do any heavy duty cleaning. It is therefore especially wonderful for traveling and camping. It holds 1 fluid ounce, and is supposedly equivalent to a super-ultra tampon

Natracare is the world's first and leading manufacturer of the only full line of non-chlorine bleached feminine protection tampons and pads. First developed in Britain in response to the health risks and environmental effects of dioxin pollution, Natracare products represent a major breakthrough in industry's ability to address women's health and the environment.

The Moonwit Collective offers reusable, beautiful pads and accessories-bags to carry them in, matching panties and a pretty bowl for soaking and washing the pads. Defiantly check them out. They are another all-women collective.

This is only the tip of the tampon, it takes only a little time and effort to seek out alternatives to the products and corporations that have been willingly poisoning our twats for so long.

The addresses:

Terra Femme, you can mail one dollar for a sample Bio Business International,78 Hallam St. Toronto, Ontario Canada M6H 7W8,You can call Bio Business International 1-800-755-0212.

Keepers are $37 including shipping and handling and last for at least 10 years. They have a three-month money back guarantee. They come in two sizes: before (B) and after (A) childbirth. For more info or to order The Keepers write to: The Keeper, Box 20023, Cincinnati, OH 45220, or call 513-631-0077,orEmail keeper@magi.com.

1.The Women's Environmental Network "Sanpro Teaching Pack."(1994).

2.Kathleen Finn. "Protect Yourself From Toxic Shock & Dioxin". On line article.

3. Houppert, Karen. "Pulling The Plug on the Tampon Industry." The Village Voice, Feb.7 1995.