For Immediate Release
Volatile Organic Compounds in Feminine Hygiene Products
Contact: Kathryn Ryan
914-740-2250
kryan@liebertpub.com
New Rochelle, NY, September 14, 2021—A study of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in urine did not find an association between use of menstrual products and VOCs. The study, which measured VOCs in the urine of reproductive-aged women across the menstrual cycle, is published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Women’s Health. Click here to read the article now.
The study showed that tampon users had higher urinary concentrations of 2-butanone and methyl isobutyl ketone than those who used pads/liners during their periods. Sung Kyun Park and coauthors from the University of Michigan examined the variations of urinary VOC concentrations during menstrual cycles in 25 women and evaluated the relationships between the use of menstrual products and urinary VOC concentrations. They also linked urinary VOC concentrations to those measured in menstrual products. “We did not see statistically significant variations in VOC concentrations across the menstrual cycle,” stated the authors. They did find that “estimated levels of n-nonane, benzene, and toluene in the menstrual products were associated with urinary levels of these VOCs.”
“It remains unclear whether VOCs in feminine hygiene products increases health risks for women who use them,” says Journal of Women’s Health Editor-in-Chief Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women’s Health, Richmond, VA.
About the Journal
Journal of Women’s Health, published monthly, is a core multidisciplinary journal dedicated to the diseases and conditions that hold greater risk for or are more prevalent among women, as well as diseases that present differently in women. Led by Editor-in-Chief Susan G. Kornstein, MD, Executive Director of the Virginia Commonwealth University Institute for Women’s Health, Richmond, VA, the Journal covers the latest advances and clinical applications of new diagnostic procedures and therapeutic protocols for the prevention and management of women’s healthcare issues. Complete tables of content and a sample issue may be viewed on the Journal of Women’s Health website. Journal of Women’s Health is the official journal of the Society for Women’s Health Research.
About the Publisher
Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers is known for establishing authoritative peer-reviewed journals in many promising areas of science and biomedical research. A complete list of the firm’s more than 100 journals, books, and newsmagazines is available on the Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers website.