Period Products: The Safer Shopping Guide You’ve Been Waiting For

Kary Florez
Mar 8, 2025
2 min read

If you wouldn’t eat it, why put it inside your vagina?

For decades, period products came with zero transparency. No ingredients. No accountability. Just blind trust.

But testing revealed what we suspected: toxic VOCs, phthalates, and microplastics have been making themselves at home in pads, tampons, cups, and underwear.

Here’s the good news: New York’s 2019 law (in effect since 2021) now requires disclosure of all intentionally added ingredients in period products. And it’s changing the game nationwide.

The not-so-good news?

Some brands still don’t comply.
Many hide behind vague terms like “fragrance” or “adhesive.”
Disclosed ingredients include allergens, irritants, and possible carcinogens.

Transparency matters because vaginas are highly absorptive. What touches them doesn’t stay on the surface—it goes in.

This is about more than compliance. It’s about women’s health, environmental health, and consumer trust.

The future of period care? Safer, honest products that respect our bodies.

Would you check your tampon label the way you check a food label?

Here’s how to read period product labels like a pro:

Avoid vague words. If you see “fragrance,” “adhesive,” or “ink” without a specific chemical name, that’s a red flag. Transparency means naming names.
Watch for plastics. Terms like “polyethylene,” “polyester,” or “super absorbent polymers” mean you’re putting microplastics inside your body—and back into the environment.
Skip “odor control.” Anything promising scent usually means added chemicals that can irritate or disrupt your hormones.
Check for chlorine-free bleaching. Look for words like “TCF” (totally chlorine free) or “ECF” (elemental chlorine free). Chlorine bleaching can leave behind dioxins—tiny amounts, but not zero.

What to choose instead:

Products labeled 100% organic cotton or plant-based (no hidden blends).
Pads and tampons marked fragrance-free, dye-free, chlorine-free.
Menstrual cups/discs made from medical-grade silicone (no plasticizers).
Period underwear from brands that share their textile certifications (like OEKO-TEX).