Disposable Pads: Unpleasant Facts

Burning toxic garbage

  • Apparently, each disposable sanitary napkin has virgin plastic equivalent of 4 plastic bags. An average Indian woman would use 6000 pads in her life-time, equivalent to 24,000 plastic bags!
  • In Rural India there is no service for collection and disposal of garbage. Users of disposables don’t know what to do after use – where to throw? It also does not burn easily and leaves behind a non-degradable residue.
  • This plastic will continue to contaminate the environment for hundreds of years to come. If burnt, they will release harmful furans and dioxins.
  • Disposable pads contain toxic chemicals that are in close contact with the vaginal skin every month. These chemicals cause rashes, irritation, fungal infections and in long term, can result in endocrine disruption or hormonal imbalance. Additionally, dioxins released through open burning and burying of used napkins has serious health implications, including cancer.
  • The skin in the vaginal area is highly permeable and anything that is in constant touch with the skin there will end up in the bloodstream.

 

A few references