Thinx is arguably the most well-known period underwear brand on the market.
But it has also become the subject of multiple lawsuits, stemming from its claims of selling “organic, sustainable, and non-toxic” underwear.
This week, news broke that the brand had settled a class-action lawsuit regarding its supposedly “organic, sustainable and non-toxic” underwear.
Thinx brands itself as a sustainable alternative to single-use pads and tampons. Its website pledges that the underwear is made “carefully and consciously, from [our] sustainable manufacturing processes to ethical working conditions”.
One million people reportedly use the products. Now, consumers are wondering if they have unknowingly exposed themselves to toxic chemicals.
The brand has faced lawsuit allegations over whether their products contain “forever chemicals”, also known as PFAS.
PFAS are chemicals that take a long time to break down in the environment and may be harmful in high concentrations, and the anti-microbial treatment may have adverse health effects.
Last year, the company reached a settlement deal in a class-action lawsuit to pay up to $5 million to customers who bought Thinx products in the last six years. As of this week, those customers can officially submit their claims.
In the class-action suit, Thinx said that PFAS “have never been a part of its product design, and that it will continue to take measures to help ensure that PFAS are not intentionally added to Thinx Period Underwear at any stage of production”.
When over 1.8 billion people around the world menstruate each month, why is it so hard for them to find quality period products? Experts in gender and sexuality say it’s simply down to sexism, as well as stigma.
As long as a device obscures the fact that a woman has her period, she may feel grateful for the coverage, not skeptical or curious about how it works. The social priority is to conceal menstruation, not to question the products used, which means the industry can easily take advantage.
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