Evils of Tampons 2 (and toilet paper!)

My ever-thrifty husband went to the store and came back with a massive bargain-size package of toilet paper. It was from the regular grocery store, so was a typical national brand, Charmin or Northern or whatever.

I got really annoyed with him and told him it didn't do any good to get cheap toilet paper if it was not the "good" kind I normally get at Whole Foods. His response was "what's wrong with this one?" So I went to the internet to take a look.

Well, did I get an education. Turns out that "regular" toilet paper, as well as tampons and sanitary pads, are white because they are bleached with chlorine. And the chlorine leads to a byproduct of dioxin, which is a toxin. This page discusses a possible fibroid-dioxin link, and dioxin has been linked in studies to endometriosis in women and low sperm counts in men. The latter relvation persuaded my husband that my choice in toilet paperwas indeed better! And for tampons and sanitary pads, I only get non-chlorine options.

The chlorine-laden dishwasher detergent left over from hubby's batchelor pad was jettisoned too! Watch out for those household cleaning products, lots of chlorine there...

This page gives an excellent overview of chlorine and dioxin issues. So does this one. And if you are interested in further reading, there is even a book on this scary topic, Pandora's" Poison: Chlorine, Health, and a New Environmental Strategy.