Notre Dame study reveals PFAS in reusable feminine hygiene products

NOTRE DAME, Ind. (WISH) – Researchers at the University of Notre Dame have discovered a chemical linked to a range of harmful health effects in reusable feminine hygiene products. 

Polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, are widely used, human-made chemicals used to make consumer, commercial, and industrial goods. PFAS take a long time to break down, leading to the nickname “forever chemicals.”

Recent research increasingly suggests exposure to PFAS has negative health impacts, including a decreased fertility in women, developmental defects in babies including low birth weight, and an increased risk of some cancers, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 

Notre Dame researchers discovered high levels of PFAS present — “intentional fluorination” — in nearly a third of reusable feminine hygiene products, including 33% of period underwear and 25% of reusable pads tested. This includes options that are marketed as “eco-friendly,” researchers said. 

Study author Graham Peaslee said in a news release, “This means these products are both a risk to the wearer as well as to the rest of us when they are eventually disposed of, since we know that these forever chemicals persist when they end up in landfills, contaminating irrigation and drinking water systems for all of us.”

The research included testing on more than 70 products, the university said, including period underwear, reusable pads, menstrual cups and reusable incontinence underwear.

Due to the limited scope of the research, the published results in Environmental Science & Technology Letters suggested more comprehensive studies were needed. 

“There’s still a lot we don’t know about the extent to which PFAS are being used in the manufacturing of these products,” Peaslee said in the release. “And too much we don’t know about the potential for these chemicals to be absorbed through the skin by the consumers who wear them.”

Peaslee and the lead author of the study, Alyssa Wicks, intentionally chose to not identify the brands tested, but they hope the research can help people ask whether PFAS are present in their purchases and inform the conversation around legislation to create labeling requirements. 

Peaslee has led a number of research projects involving the presence of PFAS in feminine hygiene products. The university said his discovery of PFAS in unused menstrual underwear in 2019 was used to litigate a $5 million lawsuit against the brand Thinx. 

Health concerns circling around the use of PFAS have caused federal bans, and recent regulation in Indiana to track its effects on firefighters.

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