Eat healthy, drink some green smoothies and go to the gym – you know the drill. Girls live in a world where being healthy is cool and well, expensive.
We check our food’s nutritional value – count the calories and cholesterol percentage because there is this slight obsession not just to lose weight but primarily to be healthy and organic.
But then again, we tend to overlook the other important factors that are considered unhealthy and unsafe.
So how well do you know your favorite sanitary pads? You’ve been using them for a long time, maybe ever since you start your menstruation.
Girls always listen to their mothers’ recommendation when it comes to buying feminine hygiene products. But sometimes, we need to check if they’re safe enough before making our choices.
And as consumers, it is our responsibility to make sure that you are buying products that won’t harm or worst, kill you.
That’s why more women now choose to use organic menstrual pads without any plastic materials, period panties or menstrual cup like the EvaCup.
Check out my post about the “Advantages and Disadvantages of Menstrual Cups“.
Here are the 5 reasons why your sanitary pads are dangerous:
1. THEY CAN CAUSE CANCER
Of course, you don’t just get cancer right away. But you’re using pads every month and though there are only low levels of exposure to chemical contaminants found in the materials of such pads.
They would accumulate inside our bodies and threaten our reproductive health. Just the thought of having these cancerous chemicals on our vagina is sickening and scary.
FACTS:
- Your pads are made of plastic materials. Some chemicals that are made to plastic like BPA and BPS can complicate embryonic development. The plasticizers can actually lead to organ damage.
- The fiber in the absorbent pads that you use can cause cervical cancer. Sanitary pads are not purely made of cotton but they’re made of cellulose gel.
- The dioxin present in the menstrual pads can cause ovarian cancer.
- Napkins are made to absorb wetness. That is why aside from cotton, they also contain rayon, a synthetic fiber, which is also dangerous because they also contain dioxin. Basically, when rayon is bleached, it releases dioxin.
2. THEY CONTAIN PESTICIDES AND HERBICIDES
We all know pads are made of cotton. Like other crops, cotton crops are being sprayed with pesticides and herbicides that can definitely cause harm when they reach your bloodstream.
Furan, a potentially dangerous chemical, is present on the cotton and will stay until it’s harvested.
Imagine having this chemical contaminant inside your body. Furan is even linked to cancer in some experimental animals.
Herbicides and pesticides are linked to thyroid malfunction, infertility and other health problems.