One woman believes she knows how to spot dishonest “organic” labeling on menstrual products and took to TikTok to share how she does it.
In a viral video that has racked up over 135,200 views and thousands of likes, Marilyn (@marilynchristopher) explained why tampons and pads may not be as organic as shoppers imagine.
“OK, guys, you’re all confused about this tampon news,” she began in the video. “Well, this is how they get ya.”
What’s the tampon news?
Marilyn is likely referring to a recent tampon study that went viral. In the first week of July, University of California, Berkeley researchers published a study that found toxic metals in popular tampon brands, including those labeled “organic.”
However, it did not link the presence of the metals to negative health consequences.
The Daily Dot previously reported other customers breaking the news about the study and alternative menstrual products they recommend in light of it.
How do the companies ‘get’ you?
Marilyn then cut to an image of a plastic jar of tampons with a label that read “100% organic cotton core.”
“Means only the core of the product is organic cotton,” she claimed. “The rest of it is not.”
Other labels read “organic cotton topsheet,” which she alleges means only the topsheet or “cover” is organic.
“So the only part of the product that’s organic is the topsheet for pads,” she said. “And for tampons, it’s the core that doesn’t even touch your body.”
The woman went on to call out other similar labels like “chlorine-free top layer.”
“That’s how the companies get you,” she said. “They are not actually organic or fully clean. Only a portion of the product is.”
@marilynchristopher Unfortunately its literally ALL greenwashed and marketing lol… #periodcare #toxictampons #tampons #periodtip #nontoxic #nontoxicliving #womenshealth #periodtips #padsandtampons #pads #menstralcycle #cyclesyncing #hormonebalance ♬ original sound – Marilyn
Is she right?
According to ConsumerReports.org, Marilyn is correct that menstrual products labeled “organic” may be deceptively marketed and still contain ingredients other than organic cotton. Citing Alexandra Scranton, director of science and research at Women’s Voices for the Earth, the outlet explains that before more natural products became popular, “the few tampon brands marketing themselves as organic tended to be simple products, made with only cotton for the tampon and string.”
However, that’s not necessarily the case anymore.
“What we’ve noticed is, you’ll see on the package, it’ll say ‘100 percent organic cotton core,’ which is really key language,” Scranton said. “If you look at their actual ingredients, they’ll often have a [plastic] polypropylene or polyethylene sheath on top of that organic core. So you’re still getting the plastic, you still may be getting [the whitening chemical] titanium dioxide, you still may be getting all kinds of other additives. That doesn’t seem entirely truthful to me.”
Viewers are worried about the safety of their products
“So which are actually fully organic???” user Lessbullshittt asked.
“What’s a clean one?” user Mackenzie Johnson wrote.
Others made recommendations for products they claim are “actually organic.”
“Natracare, Cora,” Marilyn responded.
“Get Lola tampons!!” user Kailey recommended.
The Daily Dot reached out to Marilyn via TikTok and Instagram direct messages for more information.
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