Lawmakers Call for Labeling of Feminine Hygiene Products

Two female lawmakers and a myriad of women’s group are calling on Congress to pass a bill to require the labeling of feminine products like tampons and pads. One of the bills they’re pushing is the Menstrual Products Rights to Know Act, which would require companies to list all the ingredients in a product on the label – just like food companies are required to do.

"We deserve to know what ingredients are in our tampons and pads. These products are in direct contact with our most sensitive and absorptive (sic) skin," Rep. Grace Meng (D-NY) said outside the Capitol. “It’s ridiculous that we know what is in our lotions and in our shampoos, but we don’t know what goes into in our menstrual hygiene products. And as consumers we evaluate products based in part what they’re made of.”

Erin Switalski is the Executive Director of Women’s Voices for the Earth. She says an average women uses approximately 17,000 tampons in her life time, and that 70 percent of women use them and other feminine products. That’s why she also is pushing The Robin Danielson Feminine Hygiene Safety Act, which requires the National Institutes of Health to conduct research on feminine products.

"No federal agency is evaluating the safety of ingredients in feminine products. In fact manufacturers aren’t even required to disclose the ingredients that they use in their products," Switalski said a Capitol Hill press conference. “It’s time for Congress to change that. Women have a right to know what’s in these products. And we have a right to know that they are safe.”

Contact your lawmakers and let them know if they should support the bill.

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-- Matt Laslo

(Photo Credit: גביע האלופות / Creative Commons)