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New independent laboratory testing detected lead in seven of eight tampon products, with substantially lower concentrations found in products labeled as organic cotton. But the results do not show that tampon use results in harmful lead exposure, an important distinction as researchers and federal regulators continue examining metals in menstrual products.
The testing, commissioned by consumer product testing company Oasis Health.app, found quantifiable lead concentrations ranging from 0.009 to 0.141 parts per million in seven products. Lead was detected in the eighth product, but at a concentration too low to quantify reliably.
The findings add to previous research showing that metals can be present in tampon materials. However, detecting lead in a product does not establish how much is released during use, absorbed by the body, or capable of causing harm.
“It is not a clinically meaningful concentration in the sense that even at the upper end of those values, you’re not expected to derive any significant biological harm from them,” Jacob Hands, head of science at Oasis, told Nurse Approved.
That distinction matters for nurses and other healthcare professionals who may field questions from patients concerned about reports of lead and other contaminants in menstrual products.
Testing Finds Lower Lead Levels in Organic-Cotton Products
Oasis submitted eight retail tampon products to an independent ISO/IEC 17025:2017 accredited laboratory to test for heavy metals, phthalates, residual solvents, and glyphosate and its metabolite AMPA.
Heavy metals were the only category to produce quantified results.
The three conventional products tested contained lead concentrations of 0.121, 0.141, and 0.141 ppm. The five organic-cotton-labeled products ranged from below the laboratory’s limit of quantitation to 0.020 ppm.
The two groups did not overlap. Oasis calculated an approximately tenfold difference in average lead concentrations when comparing the three conventional products with the four organic-cotton products that had quantifiable lead.
Cadmium followed a similar pattern. It was quantified in all three conventional products at concentrations ranging from 0.005 to 0.010 ppm and was not quantified in the five organic-cotton-labeled products. The laboratory did not quantify arsenic or mercury in any of the eight products.
No phthalates, residual solvents, glyphosate, or AMPA were quantified. Oasis cautioned that the laboratory methods had different detection thresholds, so the negative results should not be interpreted as proof that none of those substances were present at lower concentrations.
Lead in a Tampon Is Not the Same as Lead Exposure
A key limitation of the findings involves what the laboratory measured.
The testing measured the total amount of metal contained in the tampon’s absorbent material. It did not determine how much metal might be released during use or absorbed into the body.
Hands pointed to leaching as another factor researchers must consider.
“There’s the whole factor of leaching, and there’s a lot of sophisticated groups that have looked at the specific amount of leach that can be entering into the system,” he said.
Determining how much could ultimately enter systemic circulation is difficult, Hands said.
“People have tried to estimate this. There’s no good estimate, but the general rule of thumb is that lower is always better,” he said.
That difference between detecting a substance in a product and determining a person’s actual exposure has become central to research into metals in tampons.
Earlier Research Also Found Metals in Tampons
The Oasis results follow a 2024 peer-reviewed study published in Environment International that measured 16 metals and metalloids in 30 tampons from 14 brands and 18 product lines.
Researchers found measurable concentrations of all 16 metals assessed, including lead, cadmium, and arsenic. Lead concentrations were higher in non-organic tampons, while arsenic concentrations were higher in organic tampons.
That research established that metals could be present in tampon material but did not determine whether those metals could leach from tampons during use and potentially contribute to systemic exposure.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration subsequently investigated that question.
FDA Study Examined Metals Released From Tampons
In research published in Toxicological Sciences in 2026, FDA investigators analyzed metal content and release from 11 tampon products legally marketed in the United States.
Researchers detected 19 metals, with arsenic, cadmium, and lead present at trace levels. They then evaluated metal release under laboratory conditions designed to exceed ordinary tampon use and conducted a toxicological risk assessment based on the amounts that could be released.
The assessment found negligible toxicological concern for all of the metals evaluated.
The FDA research provides important context for interpreting findings such as the Oasis results. A laboratory can detect the total amount of lead contained in tampon material, but only a portion of that amount could be released during use. The Oasis testing did not measure that release.
Do Organic Tampons Contain Less Lead?
The difference between the conventional and organic-cotton-labeled products is one of the most notable findings in the new testing.
Every conventional product in the eight-product sample contained more lead than every organic-cotton-labeled product.
Hands cautioned, however, that the difference sounds more dramatic when expressed as a multiple because the concentrations involved are very small.
“We’re talking about such small numbers that what an order of magnitude is may not be as kind of remarkable as that statement would imply because they’re micro concentrations,” he said.
The Oasis report also warns against extending the finding beyond the products tested.
Only three conventional and five organic-cotton-labeled products were included, and researchers tested one unit from one lot of each product. The testing therefore cannot determine how much concentrations may vary among different units or manufacturing lots.
It also cannot establish that organic cotton itself caused the lower concentrations.
The findings are consistent with the direction of the 2024 Environment International study, which also found higher lead concentrations in non-organic tampons. More research would be needed to determine whether that pattern persists across larger numbers of products and lots.
What Nurses Should Know About Lead and Tampons
For nurses discussing menstrual health with patients, the new findings underscore the difference between the presence of a substance and the risk of exposure.
The Oasis testing found trace lead in tampon material. It did not determine how much lead is released during use, how much is absorbed, or whether users experience clinically significant exposure.
Research examining the release question more directly has not identified a toxicological concern. The FDA’s toxicological assessment found negligible concern from the amounts of metals that could be released from the tampon products it studied.
The new findings also do not provide enough evidence to recommend organic tampons over conventional products based on metal content. Although the organic-cotton-labeled products in the Oasis sample contained substantially less lead, the sample was too small to establish that the difference applies broadly to tampon products.
For nurses fielding questions about headlines reporting lead in tampons, that distinction matters. The latest testing adds evidence that trace metals can be present in tampon materials, but finding a metal in a product is not the same as demonstrating a harmful exposure in the person using it.
