EDANA, a leading global association and voice of the nonwovens and related industries, shared new testing guidelines for femcare products yesterday at Outlook 2017. The guidance document aims to meet the demand for relevant, accurate, reliable and comparable tests, covering performance standards as well as substance testing across a range of feminine hygiene products.

Introduced by EDANA’s Scientific & Technical Affairs director, Marines Lagemaat, the guidelines are designed as a best practice tool for third-parties to ensure the scientifically sound testing of femcare products and meaningful results. They were developed by a group of experts from hygiene product manufacturers, their suppliers, and leading test institutes with expertise in testing femcare products. The guidelines are comprehensive, covering a range of femcare products (pantyliners, tampons and sanitary pads), all forms of testing and each step involved in a test, from design and methodology to the interpretation and communication of results. Statistical methodology and technical parameters impacting test results were taken into consideration for the development of the guidelines.

In addition to technical and methodological guidance, the guidelines remind organizations conducting tests of several key principles, including the importance of in-use testing through the integration of consumer panels and ensuring a sufficient sample size. Practical information such as contact details for the main manufacturers and suggested laboratories that are EDANA members are included, along with standard method references and template questions for user trials. More information can be found at the EDANA website.