Menstrual products are essential for health, hygiene, and wellbeing, enabling millions of people to manage menstruation safely and participate fully in daily life. However, while these products provide important benefits, many commonly used disposable options also have significant environmental impacts, particularly through plastic pollution. Disposable menstrual products such as sanitary pads, tampons, and their applicators are often made from a combination of cotton, wood pulp, synthetic...

Plastic pollution has become one of the most critical and urgent threats to ocean health, affecting marine ecosystems from the surface to the deepest seabed through biological and chemical impacts at both macro- and microscales. Each year, an estimated 8 to 11 million metric tonnes of plastic enter marine environments, where they persist for decades to centuries and continuously interact with seawater, organisms, and sediments. At the macroscale, large plastic debris, such as bags, bottles,...

Microplastic pollution has become a major environmental concern, receiving growing interest from scientists, policymakers, and the general public. While much attention has been given to the persistence and toxicity of plastics themselves, research has more recently suggested that microplastics may pose an additional and less visible risk: they can act as carriers for microorganisms, including potentially harmful pathogens. Once in the natural environment, microplastics are rapidly colonised...