China-made sanitary pads and tampons are safe, as many Chinese women believe that they may contain harmful fluorescent whitening chemicals, which can cause cancer.

South China Morning Post reported that Oriental Outlook, a weekly publication under China's media agency Xinhua tested 22 pieces of sanitary napkin samples in an independent centre on April 2015. The samples consist of nine products in local areas purchased in Japan, Britain, Thailand, and United States.

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The test conducted was negative. They found zero trace of those fluorescent whitening agents. These agents are being used in order to whiten the fabric's color or paper present in the samples. Furthermore, all the samples tested met the national standard on disposable hygiene products, according to the magazine.

Meanwhile, the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection, and Quarantine had around 60 batches of sanitary pads from mainland Chinese producers tested in the first quarter of 2015. The result: only three were labeled with substandard quality.

Another magazine, China Consumer Report, created an impact among Chinese women based on the report made in 2014 in which ten local sanitary napkin brands available nationwide contained fluorescent whitening agents. This report caused them to purchase feminine hygiene products abroad or online.

Beijing office worker Zhou Xiaojing immediately switched from local to foreign brands for health security measures after reading the report, saying "it (sanitary napkin) is in direct contact with the body, so it's worthwhile even though overseas ones are more expensive."

Purchasing products from an e-store and in bulk, Xiaojing thinks that China might have a different standard compared to the US when it comes to the production of sanitary napkins.

Professor Shen Yongjia from the East China University of Science and Technology's school of chemistry and molecular engineering that it is still not certain if the whitening agents used are dangerous to health. In fact, Yongjia said that almost all domestic paper products contain up to six types of whitening chemicals.

In other news, China-made sanitary pads being exported were seized in Lebanon after "it appeared that the rate of radioactivity inside them was 35 times more than is permitted," as told by the Lebanon Minister for Finance to Al-Joumhouriya newspaper

The said "radioactive napkins," however, intentionally contain an anion layer, which "emits intensive anion stream beneficial to human health," according to The Daily Mail.

Tagschina-made sanitary napkin, sanitary napkin china, East China University of Science and Technology, China-made sanitary pads