New menstrual product offers advances in women’s health

Bryan Hsu tackles an area of ​​research that has long been neglected: menstrual products.

“It’s something that people don’t feel comfortable talking about, and that might be an indication of why it hasn’t gotten enough attention,” said Hsu, an assistant professor of biological sciences.

Matter, Hsu and his team, including postdoctoral associates Rogerio Bataglioli and Harsimran Kaur who led the project, have created an eco-friendly, blood-absorbing biomaterial that improves the performance of menstrual products by minimizing blood leakage and spillage while helping prevent infections. . Their job was published in the news Matter.

Menstrual products have evolved little over the past century. The most important products available today were developed almost 100 years ago: the disposable sanitary napkin in 1888, the tampon in 1933 and the menstrual cup in 1937.

“Developing new products serves several purposes, including meeting the different needs and preferences of women, promoting sustainability, and addressing leakage and cost issues with current products,” says Carrie Champine, a board-certified midwife and gynecologist who worked with the team.

An improvement in sanitary products for women is beneficial for women’s health in general.

“There is very little awareness about the importance of good menstrual care, and poor practices can negatively impact women’s health. This is an area that impacts women but is not often addressed,” Kaur said.

Improved effectiveness

Hsu and the team used an alginate-glycerol powder formula that, when added to a traditional sanitary napkin, causes the pooled blood to turn into a gel. The bandage can then absorb more blood and leak less than a traditional bandage.

“A sanitary napkin with the powder formula absorbs the blood, and when you squeeze it, it doesn’t come out again. But if you do the same experiment with a normal sanitary napkin, it comes right back out,” says Hsu, who is also a subsidiary from the Fralin Life Sciences Institute. “Leakage occurs 1.2 times per cycle.”

When the powder formula is added to a cotton coil and placed in a menstrual cup or disc, the blood collected there also turns into a gel, eliminating the mess when removing or replacing the cup or disc.

“Leakage is a fear for all users of menstrual hygiene products. We have all experienced it, which has led to embarrassment and missed days of school and work,” says Champine, who is also an associate professor at the Edward Via College of Osteopathic Medicine. “Menstrual product users are always looking for products that are comfortable and tailored to their body and flow patterns, with minimal risk of menstrual product leakage or failure.”

Precautionary measure

When menstrual products are unavailable or sanitary pad products are unaffordable, women can improvise with menstrual management. These substitutions can cause more harm than good by increasing the number of vaginal infections.

Included in the powder formula is an antimicrobial polymer to hinder the growth of Staphylococcus aureus, a bacteria associated with toxic shock syndrome. This is a rare but potentially fatal disease caused by a bacterial infection related to the use of menstrual products.

Test results indicate that the absorption of the polymer was effective at inhibiting bacteria, while also not reducing the blood absorption capacity of the powder formula.

Biodegradable option

The alginate-glycerol powder formulation is derived from natural sources, seaweed and sugar alcohol and is biodegradable and safe to use.

“It is found widely in foods and has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration, so it is considered safe,” says Hsu, an affiliate faculty member of the Center for Emerging, Zoonotic, and Arthropod-borne Pathogens. “It’s in the boba tea or the cheap sushi you get at restaurants.”

Most menstrual products take more than 500 years to biodegrade, and each woman can use as many as 15,000 menstrual products in a lifetime, according to Hsu, who also said women’s menstrual product waste is one of the most commonly collected wastes.

“It has become clear from conversations with patients that they are looking for more sustainable, environmentally friendly and reusable options,” Champine said.

Progress in women’s health

“Women make up half of the population and undergo menstruation every month,” Hsu said. “It’s a natural process that dramatically affects quality of life. For some, it can be debilitating.”

According to Hsu, 46% of women in Virginia are of menstruating age, which in 2020 is 26% of all Virginians and about one-fourth of the state’s total population. Although menstruation is not a disease, it does have an impact on absenteeism in the workplace and at school.

“A woman will have a period of about five days every 30 days throughout her life, which is about 2,200 days, or 6.2 years of her life,” Hsu said. “By comparison, the average American spends 8.3 years watching television and 4.5 years eating.”

Hsu sees this as just the beginning of his venture to advance women’s health issues. Bataglioli is hopeful of new opportunities in menstrual product design. “The use of biomaterials can expand the potential functionality of these menstrual products. Women face a range of challenges related to menstrual health, and we believe the use of advanced functional materials can help us come up with innovative solutions.”

“I think women’s health is increasingly becoming something that people want to explore. This is kind of my first step in a series of things to take care of women,” Hsu said.

In addition to Hsu, Bataglioli and Kaur, Elizabeth Geddes, a biological sciences student, and John Muller, a postdoctoral associate in the Department of Entomology, were involved in the project.