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Calling all the ladies, women and girls AND all the men and boys that want to look out for the women in their lives!

Did you know that underwear, yes underwear, could help the health of women?

You might have guessed, but we are talking PERIODS (a word that wasn’t used on TV until 1985!i). They happen every month to a huge proportion of the population so it’s something we need to talk about more. Especially when the current “norm” (which thankfully is starting to shift) is to use products that are not only single use, damaging to the planet and resource heavy, but also potentially damaging to your health.

This conversation came up at work during one of our monthly (!) sustainability forums. Open discussions that encourage anyone from around the business to share tips, tricks and questions about how we can all live more sustainably, not just at work but also at home. As a business we really care about Planetary Health and the health of our team – and that starts with being able to talk about it. As a group we decided to take a different room of the house each month and this month it was the turn of the bathroom. After some great talk about refillable deodorants and refillable dental floss (which I strongly recommend) the conversation moved to periods and what can be done there?

Tampons have been a large part of period care since the 1930sii, and we have known of the negative impacts on health from tampons since 1990 – including Tampon Safety Campaigns about Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS). TSS has led to deaths and serious illness in women with about 15 in 100,000 menstruating women contracting it. Not an insignificant amount.

Now in July 2024 we’ve had reports that heavy metals such as Lead and Arsenic have been found in all 30 tampons from 14 different brands testediii. An extract from the study write-up says: “Metals have been found to increase the risk of dementia, infertility, diabetes, and cancer. They can damage the liver, kidneys, and brain, as well as the cardiovascular, nervous, and endocrine systems. In addition, metals can harm maternal health and foetal development.”

So, if we want to avoid tampons what are the options?

The great news is that nowadays there are LOTS of options. Interestingly from our discussions it would seem that younger generations are far more open to these different options. In fact, tampons and disposable pads are starting to seem the odd choice in hindsight. Now, there are several types of menstrual cup (e.g. mooncupiv, saaltv, even a Tampaxvi cup to name a few) and also period underwear (e.g. wukavii, bamboo houseviii, and modibodiix again to name a few). The magic of period underwear is not to be understatedx. Their ability to avoid you feeling sticky, to prevent leaks and keep you feeling fresh all day long is miraculous. The price point might also be initially daunting, but if you tot it up vs. the monthly cost of disposable items, the return on investment over the years you will use them for is unmistakably worth it.

By changing over, your health should be in better care, and you’ll also be doing the world a favour by reducing the amount of single use waste filling up the landfill. Win, win! Another example of how taking care of human health is positive for Planetary Health as well.

 

References

i. https://sepsistrust.org/about-sepsis/
ii. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-69037424 
iii. https://www.england.nhs.uk/ourwork/clinical-policy/sepsis/nationalearlywarningscore/ 
iv. https://www.england.nhs.uk/patient-safety/marthas-rule/ 

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