History of sanitary towels.
The first 'sanitary' napkin was launched in 1897 by Johnson & Johnson in the USA: it was called "Sanitary Napkins for Ladies" and it was not very successful: women did not dare to ask for the product by name in the shop, which made marketing and sales difficult. The company even decided in the 1920's to distribute coupons that allowed people to ask for the product without having to say a word!
We have not found information on the composition of these early pads, but it is very possible that they were made from cotton.
Johnson & Johnson remains active in the field of sanitary protection today, as the Group owns the Vania and Nett brands.
The International Cello-Cotton Company invented Cellu-cotton (= rayon, we explain the ecological impact of its manufacture here) which is very absorbent and initially created for medical applications (bandages, etc...).
Cello-Cotton is so absorbent that nurses use it to absorb their menstrual flow. So the company (now Kimberly-Clark), marketed a Cello-Cotton pad under the brand name Kotex, which still exists today.
The International Cello-Cotton Company is best known for commissioning an advertising and educational film from Walt Disney in 1946, entitled The Story of Menstruation, which was shown extensively in American schools into the 1960s. It was also the first film in which the word "vagina" was uttered!
After this, there is a little vagueness in the sources. But it seems that there was a switch from rayon to petrochemicals when the Procter & Gamble Group (which also owns Pampers nappies and Tampax tampons) launched Always pads in 1983.
Note that in the 90's, the Vania brand tried to work with a natural absorbent, sphagnum moss (which absorbs 30x its weight in liquid).
But this range was not as successful as expected. Remember...
What are menstrual pads made of today?
Traditional disposable sanitary towels (we are not talking about organic products here) are made of an absorbent gel core enclosed between 2 plastic films:
- The upper veil, in contact with the skin and the external mucosa, is made of plastic (on Always' website, they specify that it is polyolefin). Sometimes this veil also includes care products, the composition of which we have not found.
- The underside of the towel is also made of petrochemical derivatives.
- The super-absorbent gel is made of sodium polyacrylate crystals: a chemical absorbent polymer that turns into a gel when exposed to moisture and can absorb 800 times its weight in water. It is not normally in direct contact with the skin, which is good because it is irritating. These gels are also found in baby nappies and moisture absorbers.
- In towels, as blood is in contact with the air, it gives off an odour. To counteract this smell, brands sometimes use "odour neutralising technologies" (composition unknown) and/or synthetic fragrances. Even though these additives are obviously regulated, even though all the products they use are approved for contact with mucous membranes, they can still cause allergies.
So now you know a little more about the composition of sanitary towels. Please feel free to leave us a comment if you have any questions or comments.
Image source: National Museum of American history
