Safety Evaluation of Absorbent Hygiene Pads: a Review on Assessment Framework and Test Methods

Bae, Ji-Hyun; Kwon, Hoonjeong; Kim, Jooyoun

doi:10.20944/preprints201810.0160.v1

Cited by 4 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 57 publications

(163 reference statements)

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“…Pads are being treated with carcinogenic bleaching agents like dioxin to give a whitish and healthier appearance the impact of which is under research. 17 On an average woman use 10000 to 11000 pads throughout her life and gets exposed to them every month. The silver lining for avoiding stains increases the risk of bacterial and fungal infections and the absorbent gel from petroleum polymers can induce allergies and harbor infections.…”

Section: Health and Environmental Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emerging issues and barriers in access to menstrual hygiene management in a tribal district of India

Kakwani¹,

Meena²,

Verma³

et al. 2021

Int J Community Med Public Health

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Background: Access to Menstrual Hygiene Management (MHM) remains a critical challenge to Indian women especially in remote areas. The problem of poor availability, acceptance, and affordability of MHM products is further aggravated by negative social construct and environmental concerns. Poor menstrual hygiene is linked to significant morbidity and mortality due to reproductive tract infections (RTIs) and cervical cancer etc.Methods: A campaign “Chuppi Todo” was organized in Udaipur; a tribal district in Rajasthan aiming for menstrual health education of adolescent girls and mothers across public schools through interactive means. During the campaign interviews were conducted by trained field staff with participating girls to elicit perspectives related to menstrual hygiene and feedback of the education sessions.Results: Based on qualitative assesments it was observed that women largely ignore menstrual hygiene or follow old traditional practices. They don’t prefer using modern MHM products like sanitary pads etc owing to the difficulty in their disposal and embarrassment.Conclusions: The present study highlights existing knowledge gaps and barriers in providing universal access to MHM to adolescent girls and women living in remote areas in India.

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Section: Health and Environmental Impactmentioning

confidence: 99%

Emerging issues and barriers in access to menstrual hygiene management in a tribal district of India

Kakwani¹,

Meena²,

Verma³

et al. 2021

Int J Community Med Public Health

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“…This study estimated adult nappy waste with the average values reported by the ICS for urinary incontinence, 35% for women, and 17.5% for men, both aged above 65 years. Also, it was assumed that each adult uses an average of four nappies per day, and that one used nappy weighs 320 g (Bae et al, 2018; Knowaste, 2019a; Rai et al, 2010).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…For countries where data were unavailable, it was supposed that 50% of women use sanitary pads. Finally, it was presumed that each woman used an average of six pads per day during seven days of a month, and each used pad weighs 35 g (Bae et al, 2018; Elledge et al, 2018; Woeller and Hochwalt, 2015).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Waste management and environmental impact of absorbent hygiene products: A review

et al. 2020

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Absorbent hygiene products (AHP) have received much interest due to the notion that their end-of-life (EoL) stage has high environmental impacts. Since the use of AHP will continue to rise in the foreseeable future, information that helps with a reduction in the environmental impacts of AHP through their life cycle is needed. This research presents an estimation of AHP in municipal waste, and it also reviews and discusses waste management options, available treatments at bench, pilot or full scale, and life cycle assessments (LCAs) available in the literature. Municipal waste of countries belonging to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development contains on average 2.7% of baby nappies, 4.8% of adult nappies and 0.5% of sanitary pads (in weight), whereas that of Latin-American countries have 7.3%, 3.3%, and 0.9%, respectively. Management options for AHP waste in developed countries are landfilling and incineration, while in developing countries AHP are disposed of in dumpsites and landfills. Most LCAs identify significant environmental impacts in the production of raw materials, while EoL scenarios involving incineration and landfill were found to have a significant contribution to global warming potential. Substitution with alternative products has been suggested as a way of decreasing environmental impacts; however, their use frequently causes a trade-off on different impact categories. Municipalities could use a wide range of policy tools, such as extended producer responsibility systems, bans, levies, ecolabelling, or a combination of these, to reduce the environmental and economic burden of AHP waste.

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“…Regulatory classifications of feminine hygiene pads vary among countries and are regulated by different administrative organizations in each country. For example, in the United States, the Food and Drug Administration is in charge of regulation of sanitary pads; in EU, pads are regarded as 'broadly applicable consumer products'; and, in South Korea, they are regulated under the guidelines of 'quasi-grugs' [60]. Regulatory organizations such as the European Chemicals Agency, scientific committees like the National Academy of Sciences, and authoritative institutions such as the World Health Organiza-tion proclaim a systematic risk assessment protocol to examine chemical safety in these products.…”

Section: Regulatory Risk Assessment Of Sanitary Padsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systematic Review on Sanitary Pads and Female Health

Woo

Kim

et al. 2019

Ewha Med J

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The majority of South Korean females use sanitary pads, which contain various organic solvents which could be excreted before and during their menstruation. However, they are not provided with findings from studies about the health effects of sanitary pads. Therefore, this study aims to establish a list of potential health hazards of sanitary pads and address the need for further extensive research by pointing out the limitations of the previous literature. A systematic review was adopted to conduct quantitative and qualitative reviews based on the PRISMA (preferred reporting items for systematic reviews and meta-analyses). Studies from electronic databases such as PubMed, RISS, and Google Scholar were retrieved for the final analyses. In accordance with our findings, we proposed a set of limitations of the previous studies. A systematic review revealed that there were effects of sanitary pads on vaginal or vulvar skin, endometriosis, and vaginal microflora. The review also revealed that organic solvents, which sanitary pads are composed of, bring potential harmful effects on pregnancy, autoimmune disease, cardiovascular disease, and neurological development. Social environments such as hygiene use or puberty education also turned out to affect female health. It was inferred that a lack of non-occupational and domestic studies reflecting the distinguishing features of sanitary pads with a reliable sample size remains as an important limitation. This study suggests that organic solvents in sanitary pads may increase some health risks bringing reproductive, autoimmune, cardiovascular, and neurological effects. Due to a lack of studies, a more extensive study can contribute to the public health of South Korean females.

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Safety Evaluation of Absorbent Hygiene Pads: a Review on Assessment Framework and Test Methods

Cited by 4 publications

References 57 publications

Emerging issues and barriers in access to menstrual hygiene management in a tribal district of India

Emerging issues and barriers in access to menstrual hygiene management in a tribal district of India

Waste management and environmental impact of absorbent hygiene products: A review

Systematic Review on Sanitary Pads and Female Health

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