How safe are sanitary pads in India?

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A woman enters the store, picks up a pack or mumbles the name of the brand she wants under her breath to the storekeeper, who proceeds to wrap the product in an old newspaper and hands it to her in a black plastic bag. She pays in awkward silence before hurriedly exiting the shop.

That’s typically how a woman buys a pack of sanitary napkins in India, where the topic of menstrual hygiene is usually not discussed in genteel company, let alone in public. So how does one begin to ask questions about what goes into the making of a product that people are hesitant to even mention aloud?

Further, since sanitary napkins are classified as “medical products”, companies are not required by law to disclose what goes into their making on product packs.

There is no research to attest that sanitary napkins sold in India are safe. But the use of some chemicals in the feminine hygiene products raises questions over how safe they really are.

“It is a sanitary napkin. Its purpose is not just to absorb. Hygiene parameters of the product, of how safe they are, should be disclosed on the packets. Unfortunately, people choose sanitary napkins based on the cost, design and packaging,” said Bhawana Chanana, associate professor in the department of fabric and apparel science at Lady Irwin College, Delhi University.

“But the main consideration really should be hygiene— what’s the pH range, for instance. But women don’t ask simply because they are embarrassed and this has worked to the advantage of the manufacturers and sellers,” added Chanana, who said she has come across instances where products rejected in the US or Germany have been recycled in India.

In fact, in 2003, Ahmedabad-based Consumer Education and Research Centre tested 19 brands of sanitary napkins available in the market and found dirt and ants on some of the samples tested.

When products in the market are certified by official agencies, consumers assume they are safe. In India, sanitary pads are tested as per standards that haven’t been updated since 1980.

“On the basis of that standard, all sanitary pads will pass the tests. This needs to change; more parameters need to be added. We need to have parameters to check how safe these products are,” said Jinoj K., chief executive officer of Wager Hygiene, a maker of health and personal care products including sanitary napkins. Jinoj is also the founder of Chennai-based Centre for Hygiene Research and Development.

The Bureau of Indian Standards 1980 specifies tests that are very basic. For instance, to determine whether the absorbent fillers in the sanitary napkins are lumpy and whether the surface of the pads feels soft and comfortable enough.

However, there is no requirement to test the toxicity of ingredients.

Staffers at non-profit Goonj make sanitary pads from donated clothes. Photograph: Priyanka Parashar/Mint

Staffers at non-profit Goonj make sanitary pads from donated clothes. Photograph: Priyanka Parashar/Mint

In the US, the Food and Drug Administration guidelines recommend biocompatibility testing of napkins, appropriate for the duration and level of contact of a user with the product. The FDA guidelines also state that the approving authority is aware of risks such as adverse tissue reaction, vaginal injury and toxic shock syndrome, associated with usage of these products and recommends that companies conduct preclinical toxicology and preclinical microbiology tests.

The process involved in the making of sanitary pads in India hasn’t changed in decades. The only changes are cosmetic, said nanotechnologist Chandra Shekhar Sharma from the Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad’s department of chemical engineering.

“No one denies the health hazards of using these commercially sold napkins. But scientifically there is much more to study before we reach a conclusion. Concerns about certain adverse effects are valid but not yet quantified,” he added.

The purpose of a sanitary pad is to absorb and retain menstrual fluid discharge, prevent leaks and of course help a woman stay comfortable.

For these reasons, sanitary pads are made of different layers—the cover stock, acquisition and distribution layer, absorbent core, back sheet, and siliconized paper.