Although feminine intimate products are widely used and come in close contact with internal parts of the human body, there is at present no specific legislation in the EU that regulates their safety. It is, however, well-known that hazardous chemical substances may leach out of polymer materials used to manufacture FIPs. Hence, information on the type and amount of leachable chemicals in combination with their toxicological profile is essential to be able to perform a proper safety assessment of FIPs, especially since there is not only external (e.g. sanitary napkins, panty liners) but also direct internal (e.g. tampons, menstrual cups) contact with the female genital area.

In this research project, a generic strategy will be developed to characterise potential health hazards related to the use of FIPs. To achieve this, new analytical tools will be developed to identify and quantify the leachable chemicals of FIPs. Subsequently, leachable compounds with the highest concern for human health will be selected using in silico tools for toxicity prediction in combination with available toxicological information from open literature and databases.

High priority substances will be further assessed for their biocompatibility as well as their potential genotoxic and endocrine disruptive properties using validated in chemico, in silico and in vitro methodologies, to avoid unnecessary animal testing.