(Bloomberg) -- More consumers appear to be ditching tampons for menstrual cups and discs.
The growing shift follows a study earlier this month that showed concerning levels of lead and other toxic metals in tampons. According to The Flex Co., a maker of menstrual discs and cups, the study led to the sell-out of its period products in hundreds of Target Corp. stores across the US.
Flex said it’s ramping up production at three facilities in the US and Canada to meet the demand spike. It’s now making a million more disposable discs per week than it did just a month ago, and has hired more factory employees to work nights and weekends.
About half of Target’s 1,956 US locations are sold out of Flex’s top three items including disposable discs as well as reusable discs and cups, the company said, adding that it’s working to replenish the store shelves soon.
A spokesperson for Target declined to comment.
The study that was published in the journal Environmental International also found arsenic in nearly all of the 30 tampons tested. Flex said its sales spike was also helped by TikTok videos that are resonating with Gen Z consumers, who are generally from the ages of 12 to 27.
“We’ve just been working overtime to produce as many discs and cups as possible,” said founder and Chief Executive Officer Lauren Wang, who started Flex in 2016. “It was kind of like all of these perfect things lining up, and then the news hit,” she said in an interview.
Some Walmart Inc. and CVS Health Corp. locations have also run short of Flex cups and discs, according to Flex.
A representative for Walmart declined to comment, while a spokesperson for CVS said that some stores have been out of stock but the chain has “adequate supply of menstrual cups and discs.”
Tampon use has been sinking across the US as higher prices coupled with health and environmental concerns spur more women to look for alternative period products. The number of American women who reported using tampons in the past six months fell 27% to about 28 million last year compared with 2010, data from consumer researcher MRI-Simmons USA showed.
“Over the years we’ve seen the steady trend of tampons declining,” Wang said, adding that Flex is trying to raise awareness of its products with marketing. “We just want people to be educated on their bodies so they can make the best decisions for them and for their health.”
--With assistance from Fiona Rutherford.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
