The Minister of Health announced that a decree was being drafted so that manufacturers would be obliged to indicate the composition of sanitary protection on the packaging.
- In recent months, some women have opted for menstrual panties instead of industrial sanitary protection in order to avoid the bad ingredients they contain.
- The decree planned by the government provides for a fine of 1,500 euros for manufacturers and, if they repeat their offense, their products could be withdrawn from the market.
Tampons, towels, menstrual cups… The composition of all these hygienic protections will soon be known to consumers, clearly indicated on the sales boxes. In any case, this is the objective of a decree currently being drafted. This Thursday, March 10, the Minister of Health, Olivier Véran, announced it, explaining that it was a question of “public health and environmental health“.
More transparency to choose better
Indeed, currently, the exact composition of tampons and pads is often not listed on the sales packaging. It is therefore very difficult to know it and choose the best one for your health. With this decree, the objective is therefore that consumers have more information to buy the ones that suit them best and, ultimately, that they are healthier by using good products. Especially since the decree which should apply to manufacturers will require them to indicate the precise and exhaustive composition of all protections. This should be applied on January 1, 2023, according to information from France Inter and Release.
Banned pesticides
For several years, certain products present in sanitary protection have been accused of being dangerous. Indeed, according to one opinion published by theNational Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health Safety (Anses) in 2019, for example, there would be remains of pesticides such as glyphosate and even pesticides banned today in the European Union such as lindane, quintozene and hexachlorobenzene. On the other hand, the health authority specifies that there would be no link between the composition of sanitary protection and toxic shock syndrome.
Improve product quality
For the Minister of Health, this decree should encourage manufacturers to improve the composition of their hygiene products themselves. “It had worked and the behavior of manufacturers changed, said Olivier Véran. They reduced the sugar in the sodas, reduces salt in ham… I am convinced that we will also achieve virtuous behavior on the part of manufacturers of sanitary protection“Especially since for many consumers, health has become a selling point.
Know how to read labels
But, according to some associations, indicating the list of products will not be enough because many women will not necessarily know which ones are dangerous or not for their health. Thus, they propose to set up tools to help them decipher this information, such as highlighting dangerous products in bold or creating a hygiene score based on the Nutriscore model.
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