Tampax Safety Begins with Science
Your Safety Questions, Answered
Our number one priority at Tampax is to bring you superior period protection products with the highest quality and safety standards you deserve.
At Tampax, safety includes everything: where our ingredients come from to how we package the products to how to use tampons. Our commitment to your safety is among the reasons why Tampax is the #1 recommended tampon brand by U.S. gynecologists.
Here are answers to four commonly asked questions we hear from consumers about tampon safety.
What’s Really in Tampax Tampons?
Tampax puts science first in our ingredient and material selection process. We carefully select the raw materials for quality, and they undergo extensive safety evaluation before they are used in our products. Simply put, we believe that if the safety behind an ingredient is ever in question—we don’t use it. Period.
Click here to learn more about Tampax ingredients.
How Does Tampax Test Tampons for Safety?
Protection begins with safety. Our tampon ingredients undergo extensive safety evaluation before we use them in our products. Then our tampons are rigorously tested through a science-based, 4-step safety evaluation process to meet or exceed FDA safety standards.
What Do Scientists and Healthcare Professionals Say About Tampax Safety?
Don’t take our word for it. Tampax tampons are tested by independent, reputable scientific laboratories. Independent health authorities, university scientists and experts conduct their own reviews to check the safety of our products before they hit the stores. Keep scrolling to learn how the Scientific Advisory Board, OEKO-TEX and GALAB Laboratories provide independent guidance, assessment and evaluation to our safety.
The Independent Scientific Advisory Board – SAB
Procter and Gamble created the Scientific Advisory Board for Women’s Health and Hygiene (SAB) that provides independent scientific guidance and input into our product safety programs for period and incontinence products.
Established in 1997, the SAB gives ongoing critical, independent reviews of our programs and provides guidance to us across a broader range of women’s health and hygiene topics, including menstrual care. Members of the SAB are prominent, internationally respected medical and scientific professionals with experience in various aspects of health including the areas of epidemiology, pediatrics, infectious diseases, nursing, obstetrics/gynecology, urogynecology, incontinence, infectious diseases, geriatrics, dermatology, and adolescent medicine.
Independent Laboratory Tests
In addition to the reviews and guidance provided by the Scientific Advisory Board (SAB), our products are tested and evaluated by independent, third-party laboratories.
Our Tampax tampons are regularly tested by GALAB, an independent scientific laboratory. Their testing reaffirms the safety of our tampons, including heavy metals.
OEKO-TEX®, a globally recognized independent research and test institute, granted Tampax tampons the OEKO-TEX Standard 100 certification. This means that every component of the product was tested for up to 1,000 harmful substances, including heavy metals, and succeeded in meeting the stringent safety criteria.
How Does Tampax Conduct Its Research?
At Tampax, hundreds of engineers, chemists, biologists, and safety scientists evaluate every ingredient throughout the discovery, design, and development of our products. We are obsessed with ingredient safety and are continuously studying new scientific literature, reviewing consumer comments and connecting with experts to remain on top of the science—to ensure every product performs at its highest and safest level.
We test product performance by evaluating product usage in real life situations, with real people on their periods. We also assess performance and absorbency by using standardized period blood substitutes with the similar properties to menses.
Read more about our ingredients and our safety promise here.