FCBCURE has launched its latest work for Clean + Healthy, an advocacy organisation building a just society in which toxic chemicals are unthinkable. Over their lifetime, people who menstruate will spend up to 84,000 hours actively on their period and use as many as 10,000 products contaminated with toxic chemicals, like formaldehyde, PFAS, lead and mercury. Some of these chemicals are also found in cigarettes, pesticides/insecticides, and even dynamite, and have been shown to contribute to a range of health issues including reproductive challenges, weakened immune system and even cancer.
As a part of the mission to get these undisclosed toxicities out of menstrual products, Toxic Tampons called upon the public to help push NY legislators to pass Senate Bill S3529A/Assembly Bill A5990A, which aims to ban PFAS and other toxic chemicals in menstrual products. This past January, FCBCURE and Clean + Healthy ventured to Albany, NY to celebrate the unanimous passing of the bill in the Senate, highlight the importance of the legislature and urge lawmakers to pass this bill in the Assembly. Creatively-designed tampon dispensers containing toxin-free products were placed in the New York State Capitol building.
There is still work to be done before this becomes law, and the second phase of the campaign encourages people to reach out to their representatives in New York and beyond to pass the law in their states. A letter you can sign to help ban toxic chemicals in menstrual products can be found here.