Glyphosate, one of the world’s most ubiquitous pesticides, has been associated with numerous negative health outcomes including kidney failure and cancer; however, there is little research on the potential presence of glyphosate in commercial tampons. We performed a preliminary study that detected the presence of nitrogen in 3 tampon brands, a store brand, a name brand, and a “100% organic cotton” brand using CHNS analysis. This detection of nitrogen in samples may indicate the existence of glyphosate, but these preliminary results were not sufficient to conclude that glyphosate was present in the tampons. This study addresses the weaknesses of our previous study by using additional methods to detect the existence of glyphosate in tampons: x-ray fluorescence (XRF), Scanning electron microscope (SEM), and Infrared Spectroscopy (IR), using nitrogen and phosphorus as indicators of glyphosate. XRF allowed us to identify high traces of titanium in store brand tampons as well as high amounts of phosphorus in organic brand tampons. Using SEM, we identified spatial covariance between nitrogen and cotton fibers of tampons. Using IR, we identified a potential C-N peak in all three brands. Additionally, these techniques allowed us to identify unique chemical “fingerprints” for each brand of tampons, where there are similarities within each brand, but variability between brands. We plan to determine the level of detection for glyphosate in cotton using IR in order to estimate concentrations present in the tampons. Despite the fact that billions of women worldwide use menstrual hygiene products, there is no data accessible to the public about what is present in tampons. By understanding the chemical makeup of commercial tampons, we can address this gap in knowledge which affects health outcomes for nearly half of the world’s population.

Analysis of 3 commercial tampon brands for presence of herbicide glyphosate

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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