This long-standing demand from consumer associations should finally come true: manufacturers of menstrual protection will have to detail the composition of their products from April 1, 2024. This measure was announced by the General Directorate of the Competition, consumer and fraud suppression at the beginning of March, the organization remembering that intimate protection products are considered everyday consumer products. In fact, more than 2.8 billion intimate protection products, including almost 2 million menstrual panties, are sold every year in France, knowing that a woman uses between 6,000 and 13,000 available intimate protection products during her lifetime . Information on the composition and good practices for the use of intimate protection products is therefore essential to prevent the risk of menstrual toxic shock syndrome. As Inserm says on this subject, the latter is linked to the presence of a bacterium, Staphylococcus aureus or Staphylococcus aureus, in the vaginal microbiota of some women, which produces the TSST-1 toxin.
However, the presence of this bacteria is not enough in itself to explain the toxic shock since the woman must also use intravaginal protection (tampon, menstrual cup, etc.) and be devoid of antibodies capable of fighting against the TSST1 toxin. “ The fact that some women combine these three risk factors, but do not develop complications, however, suggests that it is not so much with a tampon that is problematic, but rather the abuse. “, notes the organization. At first, this syndrome manifests itself with a high fever, symptoms reminiscent of the flu or gastro, or even skin rashes. But in the most extreme cases, it can lead to organ failure, coma, and even death. That is why Fraud Repression announces that the manufacturers of feminine intimate protection products and those responsible for marketing “ will be required to mention the following three categories of information on the labeling and/or instructions for use of the products concerned:
- the list of components (In the case of textile articles such as period trousers, this list must be in accordance with the harmonized European legislation that imposes the rules for the display of the composition of textile products.) and , for each of them, the details of the substances and materials. incorporated;
- the mention of the terms and precautions of use;
- possible adverse effects (irritation, intolerance, allergies, microtrauma) or more serious ones such as menstrual toxic shock syndrome.
Improvement of the quality of the raw material and of the manufacturing processes: the requests of the ANSES to the producers of periodic protection
The organization says it will rely on the scientific opinions of the National Agency for Food Safety, Environment and Occupational Health (ANSES) from 2018 and 2022 to activate ” better information on the precautions for use regarding, in particular, the hygiene conditions and the maximum recommended time, i.e. 6 hours. » Anses was indeed contacted in 2018 to assess the safety of intimate protection and its competence consisted in assessing the health risks linked to the possibility of the presence of chemical substances in these products, but also the risk of menstrual toxic shock syndrome. The agency also published additional results regarding menstrual cups and tampons in 2019 in order to better characterize the composition of their materials and estimate the risks related to Staphylococcus aureus, the bacteria responsible for TSS. “The tests revealed the presence of chemicals in tampons, menstrual cups, sanitary napkins and/or panties, but without exceeding the health limits.”summarizes the agency.
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Although he did not highlight any risk related to the presence of these substances, he advised the producers. to improve the quality of the raw material and to revise certain manufacturing processes to eliminate or reduce as much as possible the presence of chemical substances. ” But even if they “ show clear indications related to this risk on the packaging and instructions for the use of internal intimate protection products, especially the manufacturers of menstrual cups, which have arrived more recently on the market. » The agency also wanted to direct users to remind them of the importance of respecting the hygiene rules related to the use of intimate protection*: respecting the specific use recommendations of each protection, in particular those of the when wearing tampons and cups, remember to wash your hands before and after changing intimate protection, use a tampon only during your period and be sure to choose your tampon with an absorbency adapted to the current menstrual flow, to change regularly .
Hygienic protection: still toxic substances, deplores 60 million consumers
And it is following the expert work of the Agency that Decree No. 2023-1427 of December 30, 2023 in relation to information on certain intimate protection products was created, the latter also provides the provision of this information in case of distance selling or individual distribution. (for example via dispenser in toilet, during donations, etc.). If the entry into force of this decree is set for April 1, 2024, “ a clearance period for stocks already placed on the market until December 31, 2024 is authorized » specifies Suppression of fraud. It is also said “ vigilant to the correct application of this system on the labeling of the products concerned. » And reminds consumers that it is possible to report any consumer problem on the SignalConso site or application, especially in relation to the display of information on intimate protection products. Finally, it reiterates its intention to continue its controls regarding “ the safety and fairness of the products distributed on the French market through, in particular, regular checks of their content of unwanted substances and of the conformity of the packaging. »
It should be noted that 60 Million Consumers have revealed, in their October 2023 issue dedicated to a comparative test of 24 references of sanitary napkins, panty liners and tampons of major brands and private labels carried out in partnership with the Agence de la transition ecologica , the presence of nine. pollutants that present the proven or suspected risk of being carcinogenic, mutagenic, reprotoxic or endocrine disruptors. Good news though: At the levels where we detected pollutants, most brands emphasized that their presence was not a concern. These are, in fact, values that ANSES considers, on the basis of current knowledge, not to present a major risk to health. “, indicated his experts. But they considered this knowledge to be a lot gaps when it comes to exposure through the mucosa and the thresholds above which there is an endocrine disrupting effect (altering the functioning of the hormonal system and inducing harmful effects on health). » That is why they have chosen to penalize the products that contain them, even in trace amounts.
“The decree excludes some unintentionally added substances”
But where do these substances come from? 60 Million Consumers discusses four distinct paths: the growing conditions of the cotton used (presence of pesticides or its residues such as glyphosate and its metabolite, Ampa), the manufacturing processes (bleaching with chlorine, likely to generate halogenated derivatives, AOX and EOX), the components used during manufacture or raw materials (for example, phthalates used to soften plastics, triclosan used as antibacterial and antifungal, formaldehyde that may be present in glue) and the conditions of storage (dioxins, furans). Asked by France Info, Laury Gaube, communications director of the association Règles Élementaires, believes that, if the decree is a first step forward, the document is considered “incomplete” in his eyes. And for good reason, I believe that the document ” excludes many substances that are added unintentionally, during bleaching or manufacturing processes for example. These are stages where there can be the integration of toxic substances. »
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Asked how the composition of intimate protection could be more transparent, Laury Gaube recommends “Access to the complete list of periodic protection components, therefore also the substances that are added during the manufacture of raw materials.” The latter also deplores the fact that this decree is not applied to all periodic protections since it excludes products classified as “textiles”. “Typically, menstrual panties are products that are widely used by consumers, about whom we talk a lot, and they don’t even know what is in these protections. So there are still elements that are missing from this decree. (…) About the products that we use every day as periodic protection, there is no research done, even if they are in contact with the body, sometimes in the body of women.”, she concludes. As a reminder, challenged in 2015 by a petition signed by more than 300,000 people, the brand Procter & Gamble, which sells Tampax, chose to indicate the composition of its tampons.
* To avoid this syndrome of toxic menstrual shock, it is highly recommended to never wear the same tampon or the same menstrual cup for more than six consecutive hours, and favor external protection, such as sanitary napkins, at night. It is also necessary to take note of the precautions for use indicated in the instructions for these protections.