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Glyphosate has been detected in women’s menstruation products at concentrations that are 40x the legal limit for drinking water.
Glyphosate, which is used in massive quantities through the US, has been identified by Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as a target for his Make America Healthy Again agenda. Numerous studies have linked it to cancer, negative reproductive effects and other chronic-health problems.
A new study conducted in the UK tested 15 different boxes of tampons bought from supermarkets for glyphosate and its breakdown product amionomethylphosphoric acid (AMPA).
One of the samples detected glyphosate at a concentration of 0.004mg/kg, which is 40 times the UK/European Union drinking-water limit of 0.0001mg/kg.
Although the study estimated that adult exposure from tampon use would only be 0.0000024 mg/kg a day, it fails to take into account the massively enhanced absorption of chemicals that takes place through genital tissue. Vaginal absorption rates of chemicals are up to 80x higher than skin absorption and at least twice as much as oral absorption.
A number of other studies have shown massive contamination of sanitary products with harmful chemicals, including endocrine-disruptors. A 2019 study, for example, showed that diapers contain higher levels of phthalates, a harmful class of chemicals, than other commercial plastic products.
Since 1974, 1.6 billion kg of glyphosate have been used in the US alone. As a result, the majority of Americans are exposed to the chemical and have detectable levels in their blood or other tissues.
A large-scale study of glyphosate in urine samples was carried out recently, 80.2% of Americans over the age of six had detectable levels of the chemical in their samples. A study of pregnant women from the Midwest, where glyphosate is used most extensively for agriculture, showed that 99% of the women surveyed had it in their bodies. Glyphosate has been shown to cross the placental barrier during pregnancy, and is found in cord blood after birth.
Glyphosate was also recently discovered in the semen of French men at concentrations four times higher than in the blood. Seventy-three of 128 men tested as part of the study had the chemical in their seminal fluid.
Bayer, the current manufacturer of popular glyphosate product Roundup, is facing tens of thousands of lawsuits from people who claim to have had their health ruined by exposure to the chemical.
If you want to learn more about glyphosate and how to protect yourself from this harmful chemical, read this detailed primer on the subject.
