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Knowledge is power
The brands, products and services featured on femidi came to be because of unignorable facts, issues and circumstances. We wanted to highlight the facts and research behind the brands, to showcase what's going on in women's health and in the world.
Periods & Menstrual Hygiene
Environment: Tampons, pads and panty liners along with their packaging and individual wrapping generate more than 200,000 tonnes of waste per year, and they all contain plastic – in fact, pads are around 90% plastic! The average user throws away an astonishing 125 to 150kg of tampons, pads and applicators in their lifetime. In the UK, two billion period products are flushed down the toilet a year—which is responsible for 75% of all cases of blocked drains. It results in removal costs of £14 billion each year. Along with cotton buds, tampons, applicators and panty liners make up 7.3% of items flushed down the toilet in the UK. A year’s worth of disposable period products leave a carbon footprint of5.3 kg CO2 equivalents.
Period Poverty:
What's in your tampon?
- Chlorine: Natural cotton isn't perfectly white, so some tampons are bleached with chlorine to achieve that pearly white look. Bleaching is the technical term for fibre purification and is also required to eliminate impurities and clean the fibres. But chlorine can break down to dioxin – one of the most persistent and toxic chemicals, according to a 2018 report by the Environment Committee.
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Pesticides As most tampons are made from non-organic cotton, they will have likely been sprayed with pesticides. Last year, the French Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety (ANSES), found traces of banned pesticides, including lindane and quintozene, in feminine hygiene products.
- Glues: The string, used to remove the tampon, is sometimes attached to the tampon using adhesives. In some braided designs, a polyester or polypropylene braid may be used.
Pregnancy & Fertility