The Indian perspective on the harmful substances found in sanitary napkins and their effects on the environment and human health.

ABSTRACT

In this study, hazardous substances in 5 different brands of sanitary napkins being used in India have been analysed through gas chromatography mass spectroscopy (GCMS). Concentration of chemicals such as volatile organic chemicals (VOCs) (acetone, iso propyl alcohol, toluene), persistent organic pollutant (dioxins and furans), phthalates and total chlorine present in sanitary napkin have been reported. Furthermore, amounts of plastic present per sanitary napkin and total plastic waste generation potential have been calculated. Additionally, data analysis was done to understand the health impacts of these hazardous chemicals on users and the environment. It has been found that Indian sanitary pads have higher concentration of hazardous chemicals, as compared to similar product being sold in developed countries like - USA, Europe and Japan. The values of total chlorine observed in 5 different brands were found to be in the range of 170 to 460 ppm; dioxins varied from 0.244 to 21.419 pg/g; furans varied from 0.07 to 0.563 pg/g; acetone varied from 351 to 429 ppm; isopropyl alcohol varied from 125 to 184 ppm; toluene varied from 2.91 to 3.21 ppb; concentration of two phthalates, DBP and DEHP varied from 57.3 to 127.8 and from 146.2 to 188.5, respectively. Plastic pollution potential of this waste is approximately 33,210 tons/year. Daily exposure volume (DEV) of dioxins varied from 2.295 to 2.266 pg TEQ/g and furan from 0.0616 to 0.0738 pg TEQ/kg/day, compared to safe TDI value < 0.7 TEQ/kg/day. Dioxin's value is around 3 times higher than the accepted TDI value, whereas furan is within acceptable limit. Daily exposure doses (DED) of DBP were observed in-between 4.24 and 9.47 µg/kg-bw/day, whereas the DEHP value varied from 0.541 to 0.698 µg/kg-bw/day.