Every woman who has the menstrual cycle uses on average 11,000 disposable products during her life. Yet, despite this intensive and prolonged use, the impact on the health of the chemicals they contain remains still widely ignored or underestimated. But it is a serious mistake, given that Absorbents, swabs and salvaslips can contain pesticides, heavy metals and pfas.
In the United Kingdom, as in many other countries, there is still no rigorous regulatory framework that guarantees the safety of these daily use products. A gap that has consequences for both consumers and agricultural workers involved in the production of cotton, basic ingredient in most absorbent.
To focus attention on this theme is Pesticide Action Network UK (Pan UK) Which, in collaboration with Women’s Environmental Network (WEN) and Pesticide Collaboration, recently conducted an investigation revealing the presence of worrying levels of pesticides in products for the menstrual cycle sold in the United Kingdom.
What was found in the United Kingdom absorbents
The relationship, entitled “Blood, sweat and pesticides”, noted traces of glyphosate – a pesticide widely used and associated with serious health risks – In concentrations up to 40 times higher than the legal limit for drinking water.
The researchers analyzed 15 packs of internal absorbents of common brands, purchased at British retailers. In one of these packs, a concentration of glyphosate equal to 0.004 mg/kg was found. For comparison, the maximum limit established for drinking water in the United Kingdom and in the European Union is just 0,0001 mg/kg. In addition to the glyphosate, the aminometylphosphonic acid (AMPA) was also detected, a pesticide degradation product, an additional contamination indicator.
Glyphosate is the most used herbicide in the world, but has been classified by the International Agency for Cancer Research (IARC), part of the WHO, as “probably carcinogenic for humans”. It is also associated with the development of Parkinson’s disease and other serious health problems.
Why is it so dangerous?
The authors of the relationship highlight that the vaginal area is particularly delicate: the chemicals absorbed in this way enter directly into the bloodstream, Bypassing the natural detoxification systems of the body, such as the liver. This means that even small quantities of toxic substances, if in direct contact with the vaginal mucosa, can have harmful effects for health.
Amy Heley, of the pesticide collaboration, said: “If this level of glyphosate is considered dangerous in the water we drink, why should it be tolerated in our absorbent?“
Because the glyphosate is found in our absorbents
How is it that glyphosate arrives in menstrual products? The answer is simple: due to cotton, one of the main ingredients of many absorbent. Cotton is among the most treated crops with pesticides: in its production cycle you can use up to 300 different chemicals.
According to experts, the contamination of cycle products is not an isolated case. In previous tests and investigations, among other things, heavy metals such as lead and arsenic were also detected, as well as Pfas.
A regulation that is missing
Despite the evidence, neither the British government nor the European Union have so far adopted specific regulations to control the presence of chemicals in products for the menstrual cycle:
We were sincerely shocked in finding glyphosate on the shelves, in products so intimate – He said Josie Cohen, an interim director of Pan Uk – This is an evident gap in the regulation on health and safety that must be urgently filled.
The authors of the report propose the adoption of a regulatory system that obliges producers to subject products for the menstrual cycle to rigorous checks to ascertain the absence of pesticides and other toxic substances.
And in Italy?
The absorbents analyzed in the study were purchased in the United Kingdom, and currently we do not have specific data on the situation in Italy. However, it is plausible that the results can be similar, since many brands sold in the United Kingdom are also distributed on the European market, and the cotton used in production often comes from the same agricultural global circuits, where the use of pesticides such as glyphosate is widespread.
