The Cost Of Convenience

Have You Considered The Impact Your Feminine Hygiene Products Have On Your Health And The Environment?

- Taryn Das Neves

Every month, millions of women around the world grab a box or packet of feminine hygiene products – tampons, pads, liners – that have been improved over the years to help women deal with their monthly period as discreetly as possible. In commercials, women in white dresses or pants prance about without embarrassment, marketing snow-white pads and silky smooth tampons for daily comfort. We’re led to believe that these products are safe, engineered specifically for women.

But have you ever seen a list of ingredients on the packaging of your tampons or pads? What exactly are they putting into these so-called remarkable products that have revolutionised ease and convenience for womankind over the decades? The thing is – we don’t know. Most companies don’t want us to know either.

A multibillion dollar industry, it’s estimated that a woman will use around 11,000 tampons in her life (Safecosmetics.org). Add to that the number of sanitary pads and liners, and the manufacturers are making a small fortune. Even today, they’re not legally required to disclose each and every ingredient that goes into creating feminine hygiene products.

However, numerous tests and studies have shown they may contain harmful products and chemicals proven to seriously damage our health.

THE HEALTH IMPACT