Why do tampons have so many bad chemicals in them if they are just a piece of cotton?

Question

Could they not just made chemical free?

In: Other

Answer 1

The top countries that produce cotton are:

* India: 6.1 million tons.
* China: 5.5 million tons.
* US: 4.1 million tons.
* Brazil: 1.9 million tons.
* Pakistan: 1.7 million tons.

If I had to guess, I’d say the contaminants found in tampons come from the chemical processing the cotton is subjected to during manufacturing. It could also come from contaminants in the soil where the cotton is grown.

Edit: here’s a [How It’s Made](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QHgNoSYlhYs) episode on Cotton processing

Edit 2: Samples are taken from each bale and submitted to the USDA for testing. Either they did not do their due diligence with the testing, or dropped the ball in some other way.