IIT Hyderabad engineers develop eco-friendly sanitary napkins which are far better than all the others out there

A team of engineers from Indian Institute of Technology Hyderabad has developed sanitary napkins which have greater absorption capacity than commercially available ones and can be safely disposed owing to their biodegradable nature.

Under professor Chandra Shekhar Sharma, faculty, chemical engineering, the team has introduced the use of electrospun cellulose acetate nanofibers as a material for an absorbent core in feminine sanitary napkins.

It's benefit is that it eliminates the use of harmful, non-biodegradable SAP from commercially available sanitary napkins without compromising the performance. Instead, it's a better version because it comes with better absorbency and comfort.

The current sanitary napkins contain harmful chemicals that are petroleum-based products and do not degrade readily in landfills. They compromise on the eco-friendly parameters.

“Nanofibers based feminine hygiene products (without SAP) provides a safe alternative to female hygiene as we know that prolonged use of commercially available products may even lead to toxic shock syndrome and ovarian cancer,” a statement issued by IIT Hyderabad said.

The statement noted that menstrual hygiene is an important issue for every woman, as poor menstrual hygiene increases the vulnerability towards reproductive tract infections.