Read the full article by Jeffrey Kluger (TIME)

“Feminine hygiene products may be among the most basic and essential purchases a consumer can make. The 72 million women and girls in the U.S. of child bearing age—broadly defined as ages 15 to 49—rely on industry to provide them a diverse range of sanitary products, from tampons to pads to period underwear to liners, and industry generally responds. But increasingly it seems that manufacturers are delivering these consumers a very bad thing as well—one that can pose a grave threat to their health and welfare…

…In a series of lab analyses commissioned between 2020 and 2022 by the consumer watchdog site Mamavation and Environmental Health News, 48% of sanitary pads, incontinence pads, and panty liners tested were found to contain PFAS, as were 22% of tampons and 65% of period underwear.

What’s more, says Leah Segedie, founder and editor of Mamavation, in one of the analyses, out of the 22 products that tested positive for PFAS, ’13 of them were advertised as ‘organic,’ ‘natural,’ ‘non-toxic,’ ‘sustainable,’ or using ‘no harmful chemicals.’’ In another analysis, 13 of 18 products that made similar claims tested positive for PFAS.

The new investigations have spurred calls not only for better monitoring of all products for the presence of PFAS, but for tighter regulation—and eventual elimination of the chemicals entirely. Activists are leaning on manufacturers to find replacements for PFAS; manufacturers are pushing back, arguing that in some cases they’re not even aware that the substances are in their products, or that if they are present, they are in quantities so low that they could not cause harm.

It’s not just watchdog groups that are on top of the PFAS flight. Both the EPA and the White House have recently pledged action that includes the slow phasing out of PFAS as well as remediation and cleanup of contaminated sites. Meanwhile, from 2020 to 2022, three different class action suits—in California, Massachusetts, and New York—were filed against Thinx, a manufacturer of period underwear, alleging tests showing the presence of PFAS in its products. Thinx, which advertises its products as ‘sustainable’ and ‘eco-friendly,’ refutes all of the claims in the lawsuit. Nonetheless, in August 2022, the cases were consolidated in the Southern District of New York, and in December a settlement was reached, which offered women who purchased Thinx products the opportunity to submit for a refund or a voucher for a future purchase…

…In menstrual products, PFAS help make the material more absorbent and, in the case of period underwear, more stain-resistant. Removing the PFAS and replacing them with less toxic substances that do the same job should be comparatively easy. The problem is, companies themselves sometimes do not even know they are using PFAS in their manufacturing process; the chemicals seem to be used in producing the raw materials they buy from suppliers.”…