Polyethylene & Polypropylene (Pad Plastics)
PE / PP backsheets, topsheets, applicators
What it is
Petroleum-based plastics that make up the leak-proof backsheet, topsheet, applicators, and wrappers of conventional pads and tampons. By material mass, a conventional pad is mostly plastic.
In this product: Leak barrier, surface layer, applicator, and packaging.
Dose & route, what actually matters
Polyethylene and polypropylene are not absorbed as polymers through skin. The open questions are what leaches from additives and whether microplastics shed into tissue, both still under study, neither established as harmful at menstrual-product exposure. The settled problem is the landfill, not your bloodstream.
EUROPEAN UNION
No menstrual-product-specific plastic restriction confirmed.
UNITED STATES
No federal plastic-content limit or disclosure requirement.
The evidence
Conventional pads are largely plastic (a pack compared to several plastic bags), tampon applicators are PE/PP, and a person who menstruates discards up to ~200 kg of menstrual products in a lifetime, the clearest documented harm being environmental.
review · 2018 · source
A peer-reviewed materials review confirms pads contain synthetic polyethylene/polypropylene fibers and flags emerging questions about microplastics and additive chemicals rather than acute polymer toxicity.
review · 2025 · source
California Prop 65: Not listed.
How to avoid it
If the environmental load or the heat-and-moisture feel bothers you, organic-cotton pads, cloth pads, period underwear, or a menstrual cup cut the plastic dramatically. For acute health it is not the thing to worry about.
Where it hides
Editorial analysis of publicly available regulatory and peer-reviewed sources. Not medical advice. We name our evidence and link it, including when an ingredient is fine.