WVE is leading a field study to help gather important ingredient information on period products sold in your local stores. If you missed our trainings, no problem, there’s still time to join in! Here’s how:
Why We’re Collecting this Data?
In 2019, New York became the first state in the United States to pass a bill requiring manufacturers of period care products to fully disclose intentionally added ingredients. This ground-breaking law is NOW in effect!
WVE is conducting a field study to better understand how, and which, companies are complying (and more importantly, which companies are NOT complying) with this new transparency law.
WATCH this HOW-TO video
from one of our field study trainings.
How You Can Participate
Grab a mask, pick a store near your home and take a friend with you to look at period products! (Make sure you take note of the store name & address. This will be important later.) Go to the period product aisle and look at the brands that are available. You may see several product types made by the same brand.
Follow these simple instructions, or watch the video above for more information.
The more stores you can visit the better and take more friends to help! For additional questions, please contact WVE’s Program and Outreach Manager, Maria Ignacia Miranda Santis at mariaignaciams@womensvoices.org.
Some specific brands we would love New York photos of are:
- Walgreens brand (pads & tampons)
- Rite-Aid brand (pads & tampons)
- CVS Health brand (pads & tampons)
- Grocery store in-house brands (like Signature Select, TopCare, ShopRite etc.)
- Generic brands of pads and tampons found in Dollar Stores
- Any brand of scented pads or tampons (we’d like to know if they are listing more than just “fragrance” on the label)
———————————-
Vaginal and vulvar skin is some of the most absorbent in the body and could lead to more exposure to toxic chemicals from period and intimate care (douches, wipes, cleansers, etc.) products. We have concerns that there are health impacts from using period products with toxic chemicals in them, but there is also very little data on the ingredients and their impact. This new disclosure information will help us better understand what ingredients makers of period products are using in their pads, tampons, menstrual cups, period underwear and more!
No matter where you live, YOU can play an important role to ensure your community has this important ingredient information, necessary for people to make informed decisions about their menstrual health.