The US Food & Drug Administration has just given the green light to a newly-designed tampon – created by two women – that will change the appearance of a product that looks the same as when Tampax first designed it more than 90 years ago, and be more absorbent.
The design, patented by the independent start-up Sequel, has diagonal grooves that spiral down the product, the helical shape, say the founders, absorbing fluid better, leading to less leakage and a more reliable experience.
The new product was created by Greta Meyer and Amanda Calabrese, Stanford University classmates, who invented the prototype during a class project in 2018. The pair say that during their research, they frequently heard women would use both tampons and panty-liners to feel totally protected.
Recent years have seen an increase in FDA approval of tampons made from various new materials, like organic cotton, reusable applicators and even CBD. But the basic shape remains unchanged, reports The Guardian.
The period care industry may be resistant to development, due to past scandals. In 1980, Procter & Gamble’s supposedly absorbent Rely tampons had to be removed from the market after reports of health issues among consumers, including the death of a 25-year-old woman from toxic shock syndrome.
“That’s where we see a double-edged sword, where you want to make something that is more absorbent, but you also get to safety issues,” Meyer said. “That’s a huge design constraint for us: we did not want to change the actual absorbency of a tampon.”
Meyer and Calabrese will start selling spiral tampons online by the end of 2023.
Meyer believes it will be an uphill battle to get consumers to change their habits. “People don’t necessarily love their tampons. They just have a system they’ve used since they first got their period.”
The Guardian article – FDA approves new ‘spiral’ tampon shape (Open access)
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