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How safe are sanitary napkins?
Opinion
Conventional disposable sanitary napkins (also known as disposable pads) are 90% plastic. The upper layer, commonly referred to as the “fabric” upper layer, is a plastic woven sheet If we consider other features, such as the packaging, plastic wings, adhesives, and the super absorbent gels (plastic), each pad contains the equivalent of nearly four plastic bags (about 2g of non-biodegradable plastic).
It is estimated that sanitary napkins and diapers take between 500–800 years to break down (into micro-plastics) and that, on average, a woman uses 10,000 sanitary pads during her reproductive age .These used sanitary pads are thrown along with household waste and contaminate the commons. In the past few years disposable sanitary pads made using biodegradable materials have been introduced in the Indian market. However these pads may also contain plastic packaging, wings, adhesive strips which also pollute the environment and adds to the sanitary waste disposed by households.
However, advertisements portray a different picture : most advertisements connect the use of a particular brand of menstrual product with “freedom”, “emancipation” showing women doing just about everything during their periods . This may also subtly reinforce the idea that having periods can be a liability (and using disposable sanitary napkins can help to free girls/women from that liability)
Some links that may be useful to know more:
One of the most popular places for Mumbaikars to visit is the Juhu beach. People come here not only from different parts of Mumbai but also from different parts of the country. They walk on the beach, savor some of the street food, take pictures and watch the sun disappear behind the shimmering waves of the Arabian Sea. The night time conceals the quantum and the composition of the waste that is generated. The morning light reveals all that the human activity has left behind. The civic workers sweep the beach and the surrounding streets and fill the waste bins with all that is collected. I saw this waste picker walking past these bins early in the morning She stopped by each of these bins trying to find something of “value”. Apart from a few dry plastic bottles, she could not find anything else. Everything was “mixed” and thrown into these large bins. Food leftovers, paper plates and plastic cutlery, water and liquid bottles – all thrown into these bins. This was the salvaged waste but the high tide had washed away a lot of the waste lying on the beach If she could have got some of this “waste” in a way that it could be converted into something of value then it could be a win-win for everyone. For that to happen, the waste had to be segregated at source (as soon as it was generated). This is a task that takes just a few seconds – but can make such a huge difference to everyone (people, marine life and the planet). She was carrying what appeared to a heavy sack. After a few minutes she left. To fill the sack, she must have walked for several hours, I thought. It was an unusually cold January morning in Mumbai. Just a few feet away some people were putting up festoons that bore the colours of the Indian tri colour. India was preparing to celebrate the 74th Republic Day.
We would witness a spectacular show of machines and the latest technology.The waste warriors, like the one that I saw would walk alone…
Anu’s Dream: A Better Life for her children
Anu is a sweeper in a reputed hospital in Secunderabad. I met her one day when I was visiting a relative who was recovering after a surgery. She was sweeping a very busy area, a small stretch of concrete road which connected the parking area of the hospital to the exit gate. That space was also used for loading / unloading goods and a short term parking site for ambulances
Even as I was entering the hospital from a side exit ( the main entrance / exit was closed due to repairs ) I could not help but notice the challenges faced by her in sweeping that portion of the road clean. Every few seconds a car / motor bike would exit the parking and charge towards the exit gate. This meant that every few seconds Anu had to stop her work, wait for the vehicle to pass and then again restart the sweeping. Pedestrians like me were an additional interruption. Our eyes met briefly as I was making my way towards the gate. No words were exchanged. There was too must dust flying in the air! She stopped and let me pass, a bright smile on her face. I smiled back and then stopped for a minute and asked her if I could take her picture. She paused for a second and kept her broom aside and let me take her picture. I asked her if she had been doing this work for a long time-she seemed like she was pretty comfortable navigating her way around all the hustle and bustle. She replied that she had worked as a sweeper in the hospital for the past nine years. She was sweeping this particular stretch since the past four years. I asked her if she was worried about being hit by a reckless driver and what she did to avoid being in an accident. “Nothing, apart from beginning my work every day with a prayer”. She said that she was grateful for this work since it had helped her educate her three sons. The eldest had graduated from college and was working. The second and third sons were in college. She worked in a twelve hour shift everyday-helped her to save money for her children’s studies. She had trained her sons to help out with the household chores. She proudly stated that all three were good in studies and that the eldest was planning to pursue a Master’s program. It was the promise of a bright future for all of them that kept her going and brought a smile on her face.
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How safe are sanitary napkins?
Do we know the ingredients used to make the sanitary napkins that are available in most outlets such as super markets, pharmacies and even online? The packaging does not provide the details and nor do some of the websites of the popular brands (see https://whisper.co.in/en-in/sanitary-pads and (https://www.stayfree.in/what-is-sanitary-napkin-and-how-to-use). However a little bit of research and it’s apparent that these products may contain toxic ingredients that are actually harmful (https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0890623818302259 ).
Sustainable options
do exist but they are usually being marketed by eco entrepreneurs who lack the marketing muscle compared to the large corporations ( usually multinational companies) who sell the personal hygiene products that we see stacked on the shelves of large commercial establishments. Do you think that manufacturers of sanitary pads should be required to disclose the details of the ingredients?
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