We continue to monitor tampons for safety issues. FDA also tracks medical device problems through its MedWatch system, which allows consumers and health professionals to report adverse effects from FDA-regulated products. Though TSS is extremely rare, tampon users should still be aware of it, says Richter. If a woman becomes ill or has any concerns at all about TSS, she should remove her tampon immediately and contact her doctor. Today, tampon manufacturers in this country produce tampons made of rayon, cotton, or a blend of the two.
Rayon is made from cellulose fibers derived from wood pulp.
There is a lot of confusion out there about what rayon is and a lot of unsupported allegations about the safety of the two fibers. Previous CDC studies have found no increased risk with rayon versus cotton for the same absorbency and brand of tampon. Chlorine gas, which can produce a small amount of dioxin, used to be the bleaching agent for rayon used in tampons, says Gooch. But elemental chlorine-free bleaching uses a chlorine dioxide agent. Bleaching is necessary because all fibers have impurities associated with them that will inhibit absorbency.