Everyone who can, should switch to a cup and reusable pads. I used to fill our bathroom trashcan overflowing during that time, and I don't anymore. The cup takes a bit of a learning curve, but becomes second nature. It's far less wasteful, more sanitary, and doesn't contain... apparently... Arsenic or lead. Plus, unlike tampons, you can leave it in all day or night and then forget about it. I'll never look back!!!

but the scientists have not revealed which brands they tested, or which ones yielded the troubling results. [...] Concentrations of the metals varied by country of purchase, whether a product was store-brand or name-brand, and whether the product was labelled organic or non-organic. Non-organic tampons contained higher concentrations of arsenic and lower levels of lead, while organic tampons had more lead and less arsenic.

The article says organic tampons had more lead than arsenic and non-organic had more arsenic than lead; but the Newsweek article they reference says the opposite. Reading the actual study, the Newsweek article is correct. I get that more studies need to be done to reconfirm the results, but I wish they just shared the product names they tested already.

Is this from the cotton in the tampons? I wonder if other cotton stuff has the same issue.