For Menstrual Hygiene Day Wen and Environmenstrual Coalition member, Natracare are launching a campaign to call for transparency on all the ingredients in period products but in particular on the presence of fragrance and odour controlling/neutralising technologies.
Many conventional period products now contain fragrance and additives in the products designed to control, so called, odour – called odour control/neutralising/lock technologies. There is no information provided to the consumer about all the ingredients found in these products.
Many of the additives and residues, even though they may be present in small amounts, have been linked with health impacts from irritation to long term health impacts. And given women and people who menstruate can use up to 11,000 disposable period products in their lifetimes. There is potential for cumulative and combined exposure to a range of chemicals throughout our menstruating lifetime.
So we’re calling for specific legislation on all period products. They are currently covered by the General Product Directive but not addressed specifically in the legislation. There is also a voluntary code covering their safety. We need to know what is in these products so they can be regulated properly. Legislation should cover the raw materials right through to disposal. We need safer, sustainable, plastic free and affordable period products for all.
To help us better understand people’s experiences with menstrual products we need your help in completing this very short survey.
Watch our conversation with Dr. Leila Frodsham, Consultant Gynaecologist and The Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists (RCOG)
Dr Leila Frodsham is a consultant gynaecologist with a special interest in psychosexual medicine and BMS accredited menopause sub specialist.
As well as working in obstetrics and gynaecology for more than 20 years, Leila Frodsham has dual membership for the Institute of Psychosexual Medicine (IPM). This lends itself to a special interest in not only sexual dysfunction but also intractable pain disorders – vulvodynia and chronic pelvic pain and tocophobia.
