Period brands unite to demand UK tampon safety overhaul
TOTM is joined by Daye, Here We Flo, Mooncup and Yoni for the campaign
A coalition of leading menstrual health challenger brands has launched a campaign urging the UK Government to tighten safety regulations on tampons, following mounting evidence of harmful substances in widely used products.
TOTM, the Cardiff-based period-care company known for its organic cotton tampons, is spearheading the initiative alongside fellow challenger brands Daye, Here We Flo, Mooncup, and Yoni. Together, they are calling for a comprehensive overhaul of tampon product safety, with the campaign kicking off this week through an official Government petition.
A regulatory blind spot
Despite being used internally in one of the most absorbent areas of the body, tampons are not subject to the same rigorous testing, labelling, and safety protocols required for many other consumer health products such as plasters.
Campaigners argue that this gap leaves consumers at risk because there is no mandatory safety testing, no ingredient labelling and no ongoing checks once tampons are on the shelves.
What the coalition wants
The coalition has laid out four concrete demands in its petition:
Ensure rigorous pre-market safety and performance testing.
Mandate full, transparent ingredient disclosure on pack, including a full list of materials in contact with the body.
Require ongoing safety monitoring and reporting, including post-market surveillance that covers adverse events, safety signals, and recalls.
Reclassify tampons while ensuring they remain VAT-free, so affordability is not compromised.
Vic Fytche, Global Health & Women’s Wellness Specialist at TOTM, said:
“As a trusted and familiar product choice for so many, it’s almost inconceivable that tampon safety has flown under the radar for so long. At TOTM we use 100% organic cotton in our products and pride ourselves on full customer disclosure and transparency, and are calling on the Government to ensure that the industry follows suit.
“We need a revolution in UK period-care; one that operates using medically safe products, and one that offers consumers clarity and peace of mind in their product choices.”
A long overdue overhaul
Campaigners stress that tampons are not niche products: they are used by millions of women and menstruating people in the UK every month. With half the population relying on period products for decades of their lives, advocates argue that safety oversight is long overdue.
The initiative arrives at a time of heightened scrutiny across the global femtech and consumer health industries. Concerns over toxic chemicals in cosmetics, endocrine disruptors in plastics, and gaps in reproductive health research have fuelled public demand for better product regulation and transparency.
The petition marks the first step in what the coalition hopes will be a broader reform of menstrual product oversight. If successful, it could set a precedent for other countries grappling with similar regulatory blind spots too.