EDANA, the leading international
association for the nonwovens and related industries, shared the new testing
guidelines for femcare products at OUTLOOK 2017, the world's premier nonwoven
personal care products and hygiene conference.
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 organisations 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 is included, along with standard method references and template
questions for user trials.
Further information and a copy of the
guidelines are available at the EDANA website.