Sustainable menstrual products: a classic or a fad?

• Date: 12 August 2022
• Pages: 535-553
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJHRH-05-2022-0038
• Published date: 12 August 2022
• Subject Matter: Health & social care,Vulnerable groups,Inequalities & diverse/minority groups,Sociology,Race & ethnic studies,Minorities,Multiculturalism,Racial identity,Work,economy & organizations
• Author: Prerna Ahuja,Navjit Singh

Sustainable menstrual products: a classic

or a fad?

Prerna Ahuja and Navjit Singh

Abstract

Purpose –This all-inclusive bibliometric study aims to highlight the importance and shift of the

researchers and the society towards the sustainable menstrual products (SMPs). This study also

provides insights forthis taboo topic which needs to be addressed for improving the menstrualhygiene

of women.

Design/methodology/approach –This study adopts a trio of systematicliterature review, bibliometric

analysis and content analysis of the research articles taken from the SCOPUS database. The influential

journals,authors and countries were establishedwith the bibliometric analysis.Most prestigious research

articles were identifiedbased on the page-rank analysis. The intellectual structure wasestablished with

bibliographic couplingthrough which various themes were identified.For the content analysis, thematic

mappingand author keyword analysis was performedto gain deeper understanding of themes.

Findings –It was established that the taboo yet novel research domain of SMPs is a necessary step

towards the improvement of hygieneof women as well as the economy. The products are here to stay

making them a Classic; hence, moreresearch normalizing their usage is necessary. From this analysis,

researchgaps providing directions to the researcherswere identified.

Originality/value –To the best knowledge of the authors, this is the first study that provides a

comprehensivereview of the SMPs. The research methodology appliedin this review involves the triad of

systematic literature review, bibliometric and content analyses study that establishes an intellectual

structureand provides an all-inclusive overview of this taboo researcharea.

Keywords Sustainable menstrual products, Sustainability, Sustainable development goals (SDGs),

Bibliometric study, Systematic literature review, Content analysis, Bibliometric analysis

Paper type Literature review

1. Introduction

1.1 Menstruation taboo

Menstruation is a natural physiological occurrence in a woman that transpires for a major spell

of 40–45 years of her life (Ali and Rizvi, 2010;Belayneh and Mekuriaw, 2019;Winkler, 2020).

Women go through physical as well as psychological changes during this timeline (Thakre

et al.,2011

;Kaur et al., 2018). Surrounded by societal taboos, women find it easier to disguise

this innate process rather than accepting the natural process of human bo dy (Rihtars

ˇi

cand

Rihtars

ˇi

c, 2017;Rheinla

¨nder et al.,2019;Mumtaz et al., 2019;Mohammed and Larsen-

Reindorf, 2020). This cobweb of taboos and concealment preferences guides the ch oices of

women on how to manage their menstrual cycles. Women can choose from a variety of

menstrual products ranging from traditional products such as disposa ble plastic-laden

sanitary napkins and tampons, cloth made of rags and sarees , leaves, bark, ash or modern

products such as re-usable sanitary napkins and tampons, biodeg radable sanitary napkins

and tampons, menstrual cups, menstrual discs and period panties (Millington and Bolton,

2015;Hennegan et al.,2016;R heinla

¨nder et al.,2019;Meenakshi, 2020;Tu et al.,2021). The

choice of menstrual products depends on their accessibility, psycholog ical costs, material

costs, benefits, maintenance and previously adopted routines (Kambala et al., 2020).

Prerna Ahuja is Research

Scholar at University School

of Business, Chandigarh

University, Gharuan, India.

Navjit Singh is Professor at

University School of

Business, Chandigarh

University, Gharuan, India.

Received 7 May 2022

Revised 2 July 2022

Accepted 20 July 2022

Compliance and Ethical

Standards.

There is no conflict of interest to

disclose.

The study does not involve

human participants.

DOI 10.1108/IJHRH-05-2022-0038 VOL. 16 NO. 5 2023, pp . 535-553, ©Emerald Publishing Limited, ISSN 2056-4902 jINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN HEALTHCARE jPAGE 535

1.2 Sustainable menstrual products

The modern menstrual products are sustainable in nature, posing minimalto no harm to the

environment (Hait and Powers, 2019). The essence of these sustainable products is either

biodegradable (sanitary napkins and tampons made from cotton, bamboo or banana

fibers) or reusable (menstrual cups, menstrual discs, period panties, sanitary napkins and

tampons made from cotton wool) (Hait and Powers, 2019;Peberdy et al.,2019;Meenakshi,

2020). These products do not contain any Volatile Organic Compounds, Super Absorbent

Polymers, Polypropylene, Dioxins, Furans, fragrances or plastics, reducing the probability

of Reproductive Tract Infections, bacterial vaginosis and urogenital diseases and making

them comfortable for a woman’s body too (Making Women’s Sanitary Products Safer and

Cheaper, 2016;Barman et al., 2018;Hait and Powers, 2019;Peberdy et al., 2019;Lin et al.,

2020). Although the initial cost of sustainable menstrual products (hereafter denoted as

SMPs) is high, the products endure for a long duration (Borowski, 2011;Ballal and

Bhandary, 2020). Specifically, a menstrual cup can last up to 8–10years and a women

would use 4–6 menstrual cups through her menstrual age (How Long Does a Menstrual

Cup Last?, 2020). Nevertheless, the adoption of SMPs is demanding, as it requires proper

maintenance and familiarity with the intimate parts of the body which majority of women

resist because of pre-conceived notions, societal mythsand taboos (Borowski, 2011).

1.3 Issues in sustainable menstrual product adoption

The SMPs have existed in the market since long, yet the attitude of women and marketers

towards them is unfavorable making their adoption minimal to moderate. The reasons for

non-adoption of SMPs include dependence on and comfortability with traditional menstrual

products, difficulty in accessing SMPs, demanding maintenance routines of SMPs, societal

taboos and lack of knowledge (Baines, 2020). The women are so comfortable with their

existing and adopted routines using traditional plastic and dioxins-laden menstrual

products such that they advocate the sameto their future generations (Mitchell et al., 2015).

Women prefer these products even when they face issues like chafing, odor, irritation and

infections. Moreover, these disposable menstrual products assist in concealing the

menstrual cycle further encouraging the taboos (Winkler, 2020). Innumerable societal

taboos combined with the extensive marketing of corporate giants is the genesis behind

this (Meenakshi, 2020). The consequence –10,000 sanitary napkins or 15,000 tampons

used by a single woman during her menstrual age (Bharadwaj and Patkar, 2004;Bajaj,

2020;Tu et al., 2021) which ends up in landfills, water streams or when incinerated

contribute to air pollution leading to environmental befouling (Kaur et al.,2018;Meenakshi,

2020).

1.4 Public health issue

Although menstruation is a taboo topic, the menstrual hygiene studies have increased

significantly in the past few years, recognizing it as a public health issue (Ndana, 2018;

Sornapudi et al.,2018;Sivakami et al.,2019;Ballal and Bhandary, 2020;Ram et al.,2020).

The studies initially encircled around knowledge (Sornapudi et al., 2018,Moon et al.,2020),

practices and routines (Beksinska et al., 2015;Kakani and Bhatt, 2017), societal myths and

taboos (Roxburgh et al., 2020;Meenakshi, 2020) or were confined to rural areas (Chinyama,

et al.,2019

). Recently, the studies contemplated SMPs regarding their attitude (Borowski,

2011;Tu et al.,2021), acceptability (Beksinska et al.,2015; Araujo et al., 2020; Arenas et al.,

2020), associated barriers and benefits (Hyttel et al., 2017;Kambala et al., 2020). By

comprehending the vitality of menstrual hygiene especially the SMPs in the current

scenario, it is requisite to conduct such studies. This indicates a need for comprehensive

review of studies involving SMPs such that the knowledge constructs in this research area

can be detected and directions for future researchsuggested.

PAGE 536 jINTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN HEALTHCARE jVOL. 16 NO. 5 2023