Hello colleagues and partners,

Women’s Voices for the Earth (WVE) could use your help. For years we have supported the Menstrual Product Right to Know Act that has been introduced in Congress by Representative Grace Meng (who has proven to be a great champion for menstrual equity). In fact, in the past your organization has signed on to a letter supporting the Menstrual Product Right to Know Act (HR 2268), which required
disclosure of all intentionally added ingredients in menstrual products.

Unfortunately, ​the current bill language being discussed for reintroduction falls short of creating the health protective standards necessary for meaningful disclosure of ingredients used in menstrual products and would also undermine A.164, a law that was recently enacted in NY that requires disclosure of all intentionally-added ingredients.

Background

Congresswoman Meng is working with Senator Tammy Baldwin’s office to reintroduce menstrual product disclosure legislation in the House and Senate. Their offices have been seeking input from WVE but also the Baby and Adult Hygiene Product Association which represents Procter and Gamble (makers of Tampax and Always) and Kimberly Clark (makers of Kotex) among other manufacturers. Unfortunately, the draft language we have seen is very concerning because it ​blocks the disclosure of all intentionally-added ingredients by giving the FDA the authority to set threshold levels for disclosure of fragrance ingredients. Language in the draft legislation would also allow preemption of state legislation.

Their offices worked out this compromise with industry, but unfortunately it is a compromise that we think moves menstrual equity work backward, especially considering there is a recently enacted law in New York that requires disclosure of all intentionally added ingredients in menstrual products.

WVE is circulating a sign on letter for organizations to sign as a show of support for menstrual product disclosure legislation that puts the health of menstruators first, and that does not cater to industry’s interests. We hope that this aligned support from organizations, in addition to WVE, will convince their offices to remove the ​concerning provisions ​that will continue to create barriers to accessing vital information.

Link to sign on letter: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSfF1Gj8BW3h1pjbRMa-TpRcsBiMXbu7GD0U8qtMH41JZArbyw/viewform?usp=sf_link

​We greatly appreciate your support on this issue, whether you work directly on menstrual equity or not. Please don’t hesitate to contact me if you have questions.

Jamie

Text of the letter

Dear Congresswoman Meng and Senator Baldwin:

We are writing you to express our concern with draft language being proposed for the Menstrual Products Right to Know Act of 2022. Our organizations represent diverse but interconnected issues including environmental health, women’s health, environmental justice, and reproductive health and justice. What we have in common is a belief that people who menstruate have a right to know what ingredients they are being exposed to when they use products to control their period. If an ingredient is intentionally added to a product, manufacturers should bear the responsibility of disclosing that ingredient regardless of the level present in the product.

It has come to our attention that your offices are considering adding thresholds that would trigger the disclosure of fragrance ingredients in menstrual products in your proposed legislation and that the Food and Drug Administration would be directed to set these threshold levels. We strongly oppose this inclusion for the following reasons:

• Menstrual products are used in and on the body—there are no established “safe” levels for fragrances or any other ingredient used in menstrual products. This is why it is important that companies disclose all intentionally-added ingredients. The scientific data doesn’t exist for the FDA to establish such thresholds—meanwhile this important information will continue to be withheld from the public. Research on vaginal and vulvar chemical exposure is severely lacking – which would make it extremely difficult for the FDA to determine a safe or a dangerous level of fragrance exposure. Dermal exposure is not the same as vaginal and vulvar exposure, and one can’t be used as a proxy for the other.

• Numerous scientific studies show fragrance can include ingredients linked to cancer, infertility, reproductive harm, hormone disruption and birth defects. People have a right to know if these ingredients are being intentionally-added to products they use in and on their body, no matter what level they are present in the product.

• In 2019, New York state enacted a precedent-setting menstrual products disclosure law that many of the groups who signed on to this letter worked hard to pass. The law requires disclosure of all intentionally-added ingredients including fragrance ingredients. It would be wrong for federal legislation to create a lower, less health-protective standard than the NY Law.

• Several major brands including Procter & Gamble and Playtex already voluntarily disclose fragrance ingredients in their period products, showing that it can be done.

• Only a few manufacturers still make menstrual products with fragrance; Introducing legislation that caters to a handful of industry laggards rather than prioritizing public health is misguided and disproportionately puts women and girls at risk.

• Allowing some ingredients to be hidden if they fall under the threshold level will hamper the progress of needed research, and will not give people who menstruate, advocates, or researchers a full picture of the ingredients used in these products.

• Products that are inserted in or used on the body should not contain fragrance, given the potential toxicity of these ingredients and the fact that menstrual products come into contact with absorptive vaginal tissue. Requiring disclosure of all intentionally added fragrance ingredients would help push the industry to eliminate its use of fragrance ingredients all together. Rather than disclose the use of harmful ingredients, companies may choose to reformulate to take fragrance ingredients out of products.

We are also concerned that bill language is being considered that would preempt a state’s ability to more strictly regulate the disclosure of these products. While the draft language allows for states to apply for an exemption from this federal preemption, there is no guarantee that such an exemption would be granted. We believe states should have the right to regulate menstrual products in whatever way they see fit and cannot support any provisions that would undermine that right.

Furthermore, the Environmental Justice for all Act (HR 2021), a critical piece of legislation to address the health and environmental inequities experienced by communities of color, low-income communities, and tribal and indigenous communities, includes language that requires disclosure of all intentionally-added ingredients in menstrual products that is much stronger than the language being proposed. We cannot support competing federal language that contains weaker requirements given the burden communities of color are already experiencing due to the toxic chemicals in their workplaces, communities and the products marketed to them.

We deeply appreciate the leadership both your offices have shown in support of women’s health and menstrual equity. We hope you take our concerns seriously and put women’s health and the health of all people who menstruate first when drafting provisions to address the safety and disclosure of these products.

Thank you,