Disposal of Sanitary Napkin

It happens to us

14,66,17,293

girls and women

Why is a normal vital process of human existence –Menstruation - considered contaminated, dirty & impure

Reproductive Right

What Is MHM

Women and adolescent girls using a clean menstrual management material o absorb or collect blood that can be changed in privacy as often as necessary for the duration of the menstruation period, using soap and water for washing the body as required, and having access to facilities to dispose of used menstrual management materials.

Source-UNICEF and WHO, 2014

100%

87%

70%

74%

Formative Research in U.P with menstruating adolescents – UNICEF,

2012

Had No dialogue on Menstruation

Old (unhygienic) cloth to manage

Rural India women still use unsanitaized cloth

Fathers were in favour of preparing girls for

their first menstruation

64% household

do not have

toilets in U.P

Do You Know...

“Average women will

throw nearly 16,800 pads

in her life cycle”

“Nothing inherently wrong in reusing”

Disposable Sanitary Napkin

• Top layer – is made of polypropylene-a plastic fleece

• Padding- wood pulp mixed with SAP(plastic based gel)

• Leak proof

Contrary to popular belief, most disposal sanitary napkins are made almost entirely of plastic

Possible Disposal Mechanism

Burning

Digging

Flushing

Health & Environmental Effects

• Most disposal pads end up as unsegregated household waste or are burned along with domestic waste-releasing toxins from the plastics.

• Source of the harmful chemicals that can be used in sanitary napkins- Use of chlorine bleach to whiten the product that bleaching

process does not sterilise anything . It only ensure that the products are white. The process results in the production of dioxin-a type of “organochlorine” as it DDT, PCBs and Agent organs, that is linked to cancer, especially breast cancer, immune system suppression, endometriosis, pelvic inflammatory diseases, and sperm count

- Artificial Fragrances – added to napkins can cause local allergies and skin reaction

- Insecticides and herbicides – sprayed on cotton crop especially ‘Furan’ stay on cotton for long after it is harvested.

• Pad takes 500 years to degrade. Every year we add equivalent of 180 billion plastic bags to our waste by using plastic laden feminine hygiene products.

Local solutions in offer

Women practicing disposal of menstrual waste in their home

Identification mark on walls to search out families using home based

mechanism (Matka) for disposal of menstrual waste

Local solutions in offer

Incinerator construction in Schools

Girls gaining hands-on knowledge on disposal of menstrual waste via

incinerator

Menstrual Hygiene Scheme

20 States

152 Districts

1.5 crore Adolescent

Girls90 million pads per month

DISPOSAL is still a

challenge ??

Thank You