The decline of the tampon

Sales of tampons in the UK have fallen by 12% in the past five years, raising questions over the long-term viability of the menstrual product.

Growing concerns over their health and environmental impact are “turning women off the tampon”, said The Times, and with “talking about your time of the month more socially acceptable than ever”, women now have “other options”.

Why are sales down?

The trend became official in March, when the Office for National Statistics made changes to its “inflation basket” to reflect the changing habits of British shoppers. Tampons were replaced by sanitary towels because the latter are “attracting greater expenditure and are currently more representative of feminine hygiene products”, said the ONS.

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There are several reasons for the decline, including concern over the impact they have on nature. “There’s no getting away from the fact that sanitary products are bad for the environment,” said The Times. Tampons and pads are the fifth most common product found in oceans, according to the European Commission.

On average a woman will dispose of 15,000 menstrual items during her lifetime that will end up in landfill, added The Times. Around 2.5 million tampons and 1.4 million pads are flushed down UK toilets every day – a figure that “doesn’t fit well with Gen Z’s priorities”, the paper said.

Are there health concerns?

Yes. Researchers discovered “forever chemicals” in the lining of period underwear, the wrappers of tampons and in other menstrual products, The Washington Post reported. The chemicals can “accumulate in the body over time” and “have been implicated in a number of serious health effects, including some cancers”, it said.

“The skin lining the vagina is one of the body’s most sensitive parts,” said The Times, “and chemicals can pass into the bloodstream without being metabolised.” Leaving a tampon in for too long be dangerous. It can lead to toxic shock syndrome, a bacterial infection that in severe cases can prove fatal.

Earlier this month, a Californian model had both of her legs amputated after becoming gravely ill with toxic shock syndrome caused by a tampon, reported The Mirror. However, such cases are rare.

What are the alternatives?

The Mooncup is a silicone device that is inserted into the vagina and can collect three times more blood than a tampon, said its British manufacturer. It should be rinsed with water after emptying it and put in boiled water between periods to sterilise it. “I would say that the biggest killer of the tampon is the menstrual cup,” Lisa Payne, head of beauty trends at the forecaster Stylus, told The Times.

There are also period pants, which are underwear with an absorbent lining that can go in the wash. Thanks to an absorbent black gusset “you don’t see red blood like you do on a pad”, a woman told The New York Times.

However, noted the paper, period underwear is “not for everyone” because of the cost, which ranges from $12 to $38 in the US, depending on the brand. In the UK, a pack of three period pants at M&S costs £20. Prices could fall if campaigners convince the government to cut VAT on them.

What about the price of tampons?

Questions were raised earlier this year over whether the removal of the so-called tampon tax – “trumpeted… by Rishi Sunak as one of the benefits of Brexit” – has “helped lower prices at all, amid concerns the saving is not being passed on by retailers to women”, said The Guardian.

Supermarket own-brand period products increased in price by as much as 57% last year, according to research carried out by The Grocer. Asda put the price of its non-applicator tampons up from 70p to £1.10 in August 2022, the same price as Sainsbury’s own-label tampons (up from £1). As a comparison, a multi-use Mooncup costs about £24.

Are there any innovations in tampons?

The tampon design, “a bullet-shaped cotton and rayon bundle”, has been “largely unchanged for almost 90 years”, said The Times. But now, the US has approved a new design that could “change the appearance of a product that’s looked the same for decades”, said The Guardian.

The design, patented by an independent company called Sequel, has “diagonal grooves that spiral down the product”. The makers say the product’s “helical shape better absorbs fluid”, which “leads to less leakage and a more reliable experience”.

The inventors believe that the new take on a familiar product could prove popular. “People don’t necessarily love their tampons”, they said. “They just have a system they’ve used since they first got their period.”

But ultimately “it all comes down to trust”, said The Times, “which, in the tampon’s case, could be hanging by a thread”.