Petition · past parliament

Class Feminine Hygiene Products as Medical Devices.

Closed 771 signatures

What the petition asks

The UK is no longer required to follow EU Directives or ECHA Guidelines. Now we've left the EU, I'd like the government to recategorise feminine hygiene products as medical devices to enforce stricter safety regulations, and create a UK accrediting body to ensure the integrity of hygiene products.
My Forensic Science BSc research project chemically profiled pantyliners (a female hygiene product) and identified traces of Nicotine in half of the samples, and identified a carcinogen (2,2'-Bioxirane) in one brand. I discovered that UK legislation is vague and that there are no compulsory Codes of Practice outlining the safety of products or an accrediting body in the UK. Incontinence pads are medical devices that undergo clinical evaluations and audits, yet feminine hygiene products do not.

Timeline

8 Jul 2020 Petition opened for signatures
8 Jan 2021 Closed to new signatures

Key facts

Signatures 771
Status Closed
Opened 8 Jul 2020
Closed 8 Jan 2021

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Source: the official petition page. Last checked 15 Jul 2026.