University of Antwerp maps the impact of menstrual products on the microbiome in detail

Menstrual products undoubtedly have an impact on women's intimate health. But this influence has never been thoroughly investigated. With the Isala project, the University of Antwerp is changing that. The research has received a significant financial boost thanks to support from the Gates Foundation, but support from the general public also remains essential. Without additional funding, 3,000 valuable samples risk being frozen.

Isala, the University of Antwerp's large-scale citizen science platform for women's health, has won several awards in recent years. For example, it won the very first Grand Prize at the European Union Prize for Citizen Science. Now, it has also been awarded a prestigious grant from the Gates Foundation: with the so-called Grand Challenges, the foundation stimulates innovation and international collaboration to address the greatest challenges in global health and development.

Research on Menstrual Products

With the funding, worth $200,000, Isala scientists will launch the ISILUNA project. "ISILUNA combines global biomedical research, social science, and citizen participation: we started in Belgium and are now expanding to other countries like Cameroon and Peru, with the support of Swiss partners," explains Isala principal investigator Professor Sarah Lebeer.

"Menstrual products are the focus of the study: currently, there are no international quality and safety standards, yet heavy metals have been found in tampons, for example. These products can affect the microbiome of the intimate skin and vagina, a key factor in intimate health. This has never been studied before, and certainly not on an international scale like in Cameroon and Peru, where research faces additional challenges."

The Isala team wants to map the precise impact in detail by having participants test various products. This should ultimately lead to evidence-based recommendations and informed product choices.

High-tech analyses

A similar, smaller-scale project, LUNA, has been running in Belgium for a year now. Doctoral student Leonore Vander Donck is testing the influence of various menstrual products on the vaginal and vulvar microbiome. Nearly 800 registrations and 100 actively selected donors have already yielded more than 3,000 vaginal and vulvar samples, and 500 menstrual blood samples. Each participant used a different product during five consecutive menstrual cycles: a tampon, a cup, two types of pads, or menstrual underwear.

"We now want to analyze all these samples using high-tech techniques to extract every possible insight," says Vander Donck. "Unfortunately, this is very expensive research. Therefore, we are seeking €25,000 through a crowdfunding campaign. The participants' commitment is enormous. We are counting on donations from many women and men to carry out this important research, so that the samples don't remain in the freezer."