Can you flush tampons down the toilet? Tampax issues official advice

While we go through packs of them when mother nature calls, many still wonder: "can you flush tampons?"

It’s another one of those questions, like "how does the contraceptive pill actually work?" or "what does the thyroid actually do?" that will probably make you squint, mumble, and then give up and admit you’re not exactly sure.

In fact, even the rule about flushing tampons is shrouded in mystery. You definitely shouldn’t flush sanitary napkins. But a tampon? We’ve heard whispers about the rules, but what’s actually the score?

Can you flush tampons Credit: Pexels

It’s easy to understand the confusion, given that anything tissuey seems like it should be flushable.

At the same time, it’s hard to escape the fact that tampons have to be pretty damn durable. After all; they’re designed to soak up liquid without causing leakage, for up to eight hours.

According to Lunapads, an estimated 12 billion pads and seven million tampons are disposed of in the United States annually. Although there are no hard figures on quite how many of these are flushed.

In the UK, the picture is a little clearer, and the Marine Conservation Society estimates that between one and a half and two billion sanitary products head straight down the toilet annually. If we're applying the 50/50 split idea to the US figures, that's a potentially huge number of these products disappearing down the drain.

Can you flush tampons?

For years, tampon brands have been labelling their products as "flushable". But now, Tampax, the biggest selling tampon brand in the US, has weighed in.

"Don’t flush the tampon applicator or wrapper, and you really shouldn’t flush the actual tampon either," they advise.

Popular brand Kotex also gives the same advice, albeit a bit more firmly, with the instructions on the box declaring:

"Don’t flush tampons and wrappers down the toilet – you might clog up the plumbing system and it’s bad for the environment. Just wrap it in some toilet paper (or put it in a bag) and place it in the bin or sanitary disposal unit."

What happens if you do it anyway?

But if this is the case, what actually happens to them once they're in the system?

Moon Valley Plumbing, who are based in Phoenix, Arizona, explain on their website the very thing that makes tampons so useful, their absorbency, is also what causes the problem:

"Tampons, on average, absorb about 10 times their size in fluid. This makes them hard to dissolve and can cause serious plumbing problems later, especially in older plumbing systems if roots have grown into the pipes."

For those that do make it through your own home's drainage system, the danger isn't over. "Sewage blockages can have a large-scale effect, causing plumbing problems for your nearby neighbors, and a more expensive tax bill for your neighbourhood."

Those that get further down the line, arriving at water treatment plants, are fished and filtered out, then disposed of at landfill sites anyway.

Essentially, by flushing, you're just risking clogging the pipes for the exact same end result.

The bottom line

All in all, it seems like the experts agree that we shouldn't be flushing tampons.

They clog up the pipes, push up public bills and just generally cause a lot of trouble. Fortunately, there are other solutions, whether that's wrapping it in tissue, popping it in a (biodegradable) disposal bag or even switching to a different method, like a cup.

Oh, and for the record, there’s a whole load of other stuff you shouldn’t be flushing, including condoms, paper towels, Q-tips, medicines or wet wipes.