In defense of precise labeling.

Vaginal tissue is very sensitive, which means that we must be very careful about what comes in contact with it. The walls of the vagina are filled with numerous blood vessels and lymphatic vessels, allowing the direct transfer of chemicals into the circulatory system. Indeed, there is considerable interest in vaginal drug delivery systems because the vagina is such an effective site for transferring drugs directly into the blood without being metabolized first.

One study found that a vaginal dose of estradiol (an estrogen pro-est) resulted in systemic estradiol levels in the body 10 to 80 times greater compared to the same dose given orally. Therefore, you should really know what the heck is in the products you use around the vagina.




All the truth.


Right now, some companies tell you a little about what's in their products. While tampon and pad manufacturers are not required to disclose the ingredients, many of them include some basic information about their packs about the ingredients - unless they use fragrance. A 'fragrance' in a product can be made up of 50-200 different ingredients, many for which there simply is no health data. This black box means you could be exposing your body to fragrance ingredients without even knowing it.

We can do better.

Forward-thinking companies are already doing the right thing for women by voluntarily revealing the ingredients used in their products. And leaders like Seventh Generation are taking a step further to 

advocate for industry-wide transparency to co-sponsor a meeting in May.

Together, on May 23, women concerned about their health will stay with business leaders and tell Congress that we have the right to know what is in the products we use so intimately. Congress can do its part by promulgating a very simple, common sense law.