Below is an excerpt from the Press Tribune articles.
This excerpt will help you to understand the significance of the tampon test results.
Dioxin is a by-product of the chlorine bleaching process that is used to make tampons, sanitary pads, diapers and other paper and wood products "super white."  Like Ruth, scientists are quick to point out that humans are exposed to dioxin everyday - primarily through their diet, but also through their contact with cleaning solvents, paper products and dry cleaning. Because dioxin bonds with fatty tissue, humans who consume beef, poultry and fish end up digesting the chemical.
      As reported by Charlotte Brody in "Everyone's Backyard" - a publication of the Center for Health, Environment and Justice - dioxin is classified as a "known human carcinogen" by the International Agency for Research on Cancer, an arm of the World Health Organization. In addition to endometriosis,
the Women's Environmental Network in London reports that possible side effects of dioxin exposure in humans includes: immune system damage,
especially in children; damage to the liver, kidneys and digestive tract; miscarriage and sterility and low sperm count in men.

    Results from the tests performed on Ruth's tampons showed trace levels of the chemical, according to Mike DeVito, a toxicologist at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, who evaluated the results at the request of The Press-Tribune.  DeVito cautioned, however, against drawing a direct correlation between the dioxin contained there and the development of endometriosis in humans.  "To put it into perspective, you have to remember that humans ingest dioxins everyday through their food supply," he said. According to the EPA, the average woman weighs about 50 kilograms and ingests between 50 to 150 picograms of dioxin per day through their diet. The Playtex tampons tested contain between .6 to .7 picograms of dioxin. Assuming that all the dioxin came off the tampon and was absorbed, and assuming an average woman used eight tampons per day for five days a month, DeVito said that 3.5 percent of a woman's total daily exposure to dioxins were coming from the tampons she used.  "That's assuming that she is normally exposed to 150 picograms of dioxin a day. Add another 5.6 picograms per day based on her tampon use, and you've increased her daily exposure during that period to 155.6 picograms. "But when you average this over an entire
month, you get .93 percent of your daily dioxin exposure coming from tampons - a significantly lower number," DeVito said, adding that while he
"doubts" all the dioxin contained in the tampon is absorbed, he also can't verify the amount that is available to come off.
     
Does this mean that tampons present no danger to women's health?
      "There's nothing out there right now that you can point to that clearly states that exposure to dioxin causes endometriosis. On the other hand, there's no research out there that clearly proves that it doesn't. Frankly, the evidence is weak on both sides," DeVito said. Yet, DeVito admits that dioxin has an "extremely long half-life" - able to last in the body for as long as 11 years. "So, if you get exposed to 1 picogram today, in 11 years, you'll have half a picogram in you," he noted.
     
Despite the lack of evidence on the affects of dioxin in humans, significant evidence exists showing that laboratory animals exposed to the chemical have developed endometriosis, in addition to various cancers.  Perhaps most widely cited is a 15- year study done on a colony of 24 female Rhesus monkeys in Wisconsin. Led by Sherry E. Rier, a team of scientists, including representatives from the University of Wisconsin and the University of South Florida, exposed the colony to dioxin-laden food for four years. Seventy-nine percent of the monkeys had developed endometriosis 10 years after the dioxin treatment had ended.
      "The incidence of endometriosis was directly correlated with dioxin exposure and the severity of disease was dependent upon the dose administered,
" Rier wrote in,an Aug. 17, 1993 report. "This ... study indicates that latent female reproductive abnormalities may be associated with dioxin exposure in the rhesus. Therefore, the effects of this toxin may be more diverse than previously recognized," she reported, adding that between 1989 and 1992, three monkeys died. Autopsies showed that all three had "widespread to severe" cases of the disease at the time of their deaths.
     
DeVito said the studies deserve closer inspection. "It's rather compelling evidence that dioxin can produce those results in monkeys.
However, we're still uncertain about its effects on humans. But it seems to me that it's something to be concerned about. And clearly,
the relationship between exposure to dioxin and endometriosis requires a lot more work," DeVito said.

      Mary Lou Ballweg, executive director of the National Endometriosis Association (EA) said that while "you can't claim a direct link" the animal studies show that a link exists. "You can't say that if a woman has endometriosis and she's used tampons all her life that that's why she has the disease," Ballweg said. "However, the animal studies are very strong and they show that dioxin has caused endometriosis, so even though there's only trace amounts on the tampons it's still very important for women to be aware of this. "I think the bigger issue is why the FDA hasn't required tampon manufacturers to list this and other ingredients on their products.

If you don't think that Dioxin and other PCB's are absorbed through the skin then follow the link below...
Skin Absorption and Damage from PCBs

Here is a link that helps explain the various testing methods
Frontier Analytical Laboratory - What is Dioxin? (pdf document)

Click on the links below to view the chemical analyses from 10 Playtex Super Absorbment tampons
for the presence or absence of polychlorinated dibenzo-p-dioxins (PCDDs) and polychlorinated dibenzofurans (PCDFs).
Maxim Chemical Analyses
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Tampons Tested in Japan
below is a copy of an email that I had received in August of 2000
Dear all,
A Canadian laboratory detected 5pg-TEQ/g coplanar PCBs in tampons made by a Japanese maker 'Lion Inc.'
I am a Japanese male researcher on waste problems who is acting against dioxins emission. For recent years I have
been interested in menstrual tampon issues in the United States and Canada. I contacted some activists
through the Internet, e.g. Ms. Willi Nolan. I have also been much interested in the tampon bill. I wrote an introductory
article in a famous weekly magazine called 'Weekly Friday' (Shukan Kin'yobi) on Dec 17, 1999. I wrote about the
dioxins-in-tampon issues there. But three Japanese tampon makers neglected it, so one of the female editorial
staffs got angry and requested Maxxam Analytics Inc. in Canada to analyse some tampons made by three Japanese makers.
The company detected coplanar PCBs! I wrote a new article on the data and it appeared on Aug 4, 2000.
An expert working for dioxin issues in a chemical company suggested me that detected coplanar PCBs should be derived from some
chemical substances involved in tampons as a contaminant. He also said chlorine bleaching must bring more PCDFs than detected.
There is a paper in German which shows endometriosis cases keep more PCBs than normal women.
Zentralblatt fur Gynaekologie 114 (1992) 593-602. I'll so much appreciate you if you can tell me some recent conditions
about the tampon bills in the United States and Canada. Regards, Tamaki
Click here to view the data