□ Historical Records of Senior Engineer and Gao Jun of National Paper Quality Inspection Center
Sanitary napkins and pads are designed for women’s physiological period, which are simple to use and convenient to carry, and are indispensable necessities for every adult woman.
The product structure of sanitary napkins and sanitary pads mainly has three layers: the first layer is the surface layer, which is in direct contact with the skin. The main material is non-woven fabric, perforated film or pure cotton surface layer, which plays a role in infiltration and isolation; The second layer is the absorption layer, the main material is fluff pulp or dust-free paper, and most products also contain polymer absorbent resin to absorb and lock the menstrual blood flowing out; The third layer is the bottom layer, the main material is polyethylene film to prevent menstrual blood leakage, and the back is coated with hot melt adhesive for fixing.
product classification
1. According to the surface material, it is generally divided into three categories: soft cotton, dry mesh and pure cotton. Soft cotton refers to products whose surface layer is made of nonwoven materials; Dry mesh refers to the products whose surface layer is made of perforated film; Pure cotton refers to products whose surface layer is made of pure cotton material. With the diversified development of products, there will be other kinds of products with surface materials.
2. According to the structure, it can be divided into straight sanitary napkins (see Figure 1) and wing sanitary napkins (see Figure 2).
3. According to the time of use and the amount of absorption, it is generally divided into two categories: daily use and night use. The length of daily sanitary napkins is about 245mm, while the length of night sanitary napkins is above 285 mm.
4. According to the product function, it can be divided into ordinary type and functional type. Among them, functional sanitary napkins mainly add specific ingredients to products or achieve specific effects, such as antibacterial and deodorizing products.
With the market segmentation and product differentiation of sanitary napkin products, the product classification is constantly changing. At present, there are also products such as maternity and infant dual-purpose towels, mini-towels, specialty or super-long towels on the market to meet the needs of different periods and different groups of people.
General situation of industry
According to the statistical data of the Household Paper Committee of China Paper Association, there were 916 sanitary towel manufacturers registered at the end of 2012, mainly distributed in Fujian, Guangdong, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Tianjin and other places.
In 2012, the total sales of the top 15 sanitary towel manufacturers in China accounted for about 86.2% of the total sales, and the industry concentration was greatly improved compared with the previous year. The main brands are Hushubao, Anerle, Sophie, kotex, Jiaoshuang, Leya, ABC, etc. The leading manufacturers are mainly concentrated in Shanghai, Guangdong, Fujian and other places.
With the development of science and technology and the application of new materials, there are more and more kinds and specifications of sanitary napkins and pads. At present, the market performance of sanitary towel industry in China mainly includes the following aspects:
The brands of multinational corporations dominate the high-end market. With its strong advertising strength and R&D advantages, multinational companies occupy most of the market share of high-end products. According to the data of the new generation market monitoring organization, the top three sanitary towel brands in 2012 were Hushubao, Sophie and Qidu Space, and the top three sanitary towel brands with the highest consumer loyalty were Hushubao, ABC and Sophie.
Market sales continued to grow. Since 1985, the sanitary napkin market has entered a mature stage after more than 20 years of development, and few powerful large enterprises have entered this field. The increase of market supply mainly depends on the expansion of large and medium-sized enterprises. Compared with the global average growth level (2% ~ 3%), China’s sanitary napkin market is a fast-growing market, on the one hand, because China’s market is constantly infiltrating into third-and fourth-tier cities and towns, on the other hand, because Shanghai, Beijing and other big cities have reached the level of moderately developed countries, women change sanitary napkins more frequently during their physiological period, and the per capita consumption of consumers has increased.
Products are constantly upgrading and innovating. Due to the improvement of consumption level and the demand of professional women, wing sanitary napkins have almost completely replaced straight sanitary napkins, and a small number of straight sanitary napkins are mainly sold to rural areas and underdeveloped areas in the west. At the same time, due to the increasingly high demand for product grades, the demand for high-quality high-end products and differentiated products is also increasing. Accordingly, in order to endow products with differentiated characteristics and added value, enterprises further subdivide products, and make innovations in emphasizing product comfort, paying equal attention to function and fashion, and packaging.
According to the statistical data of the Household Paper Committee of China Paper Association, there were 916 sanitary towel manufacturers registered at the end of 2012, mainly distributed in Fujian, Guangdong, Hebei, Shandong, Jiangsu, Zhejiang, Tianjin and other places.
In 2012, the total sales of the top 15 sanitary towel manufacturers in China accounted for about 86.2% of the total sales, and the industry concentration was greatly improved compared with the previous year. The main brands are Hushubao, Anerle, Sophie, kotex, Jiaoshuang, Leya, ABC, etc. The leading manufacturers are mainly concentrated in Shanghai, Guangdong, Fujian and other places.
With the development of science and technology and the application of new materials, there are more and more kinds and specifications of sanitary napkins and pads. At present, the market performance of sanitary towel industry in China mainly includes the following aspects:
The brands of multinational corporations dominate the high-end market. With its strong advertising strength and R&D advantages, multinational companies occupy most of the market share of high-end products. According to the data of the new generation market monitoring organization, the top three sanitary towel brands in 2012 were Hushubao, Sophie and Qidu Space, and the top three sanitary towel brands with the highest consumer loyalty were Hushubao, ABC and Sophie.
Market sales continued to grow. Since 1985, the sanitary napkin market has entered a mature stage after more than 20 years of development, and few powerful large enterprises have entered this field. The increase of market supply mainly depends on the expansion of large and medium-sized enterprises. Compared with the global average growth level (2% ~ 3%), China’s sanitary napkin market is a fast-growing market, on the one hand, because China’s market is constantly infiltrating into third-and fourth-tier cities and towns, on the other hand, because Shanghai, Beijing and other big cities have reached the level of moderately developed countries, women change sanitary napkins more frequently during their physiological period, and the per capita consumption of consumers has increased.
Products are constantly upgrading and innovating. Due to the improvement of consumption level and the demand of professional women, wing sanitary napkins have almost completely replaced straight sanitary napkins, and a small number of straight sanitary napkins are mainly sold to rural areas and underdeveloped areas in the west. At the same time, due to the increasingly high demand for product grades, the demand for high-quality high-end products and differentiated products is also increasing. Accordingly, in order to endow products with differentiated characteristics and added value, enterprises further subdivide products, and make innovations in emphasizing product comfort, paying equal attention to function and fashion, and packaging.
Standard interpretation
Standard general situation
After continuous revision and improvement, the current product standard of sanitary napkins (including sanitary pads) in China implements GB/T8939-2008 "Sanitary napkins (including sanitary pads)", which has been adopted and implemented by most enterprises in the industry, playing an important role in improving product quality, standardizing industry development and protecting consumers’ rights and interests. The hygienic standard shall be GB15979-2002 Hygienic Standard for Disposable Sanitary Articles.
GB15979-2002 "Hygienic Standard for Disposable Hygienic Articles" is a compulsory national standard, which came into effect on September 1, 2002. This standard stipulates the sanitary standards for sanitary napkins (including sanitary pads) products and production environment, corresponding inspection methods, sanitary requirements for raw materials and products during production, disinfection, storage and transportation, and product identification requirements.
GB/T 8939-2008 "Sanitary napkins (including sanitary pads)" is a recommended national standard, which was implemented on September 1, 2008. The standard stipulates the requirements of performance, hygiene and raw materials, test methods, inspection rules and marks, packaging, transportation and storage.
Key index analysis
1. Health indicators
Hygienic index is the most important and basic index of sanitary towel (including sanitary pad) products. Unqualified health indicators will do harm to the health of users. GB15979 -2002 "Hygienic Standard for Disposable Hygienic Articles" stipulates that the sanitary indicators of sanitary napkins (including sanitary pads) include the total number of bacterial colonies, the total number of fungal colonies, coliforms and pathogenic pyogenic bacteria (including Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Staphylococcus aureus and hemolytic streptococcus). See Table 1 below for specific requirements.
2. Technical indicators
Technical indicators relate to the performance of sanitary napkins (including sanitary pads), mainly including water absorption rate, infiltration amount, pH value and other items.
Water absorption rate refers to the absorption capacity of sanitary napkins (including sanitary pads) products. It mainly examines whether the absorption layer of sanitary napkins (including sanitary pads) can meet the needs of use. The higher the absorption rate, the greater the absorption capacity of the absorption layer. GB/T 8939-2008 "Sanitary napkins (including sanitary pads)" stipulates that the water absorption rate of sanitary napkins is ≥7.0 times, and that of sanitary pads is ≥2.0 times.
The improvement of water absorption rate mainly depends on adding polymer water absorption resin into the absorption layer, but excessive pursuit of high water absorption rate will increase production cost and may also cause waste of resources.
Infiltration this is an index to measure the penetration rate of test liquid to the surface of sanitary towel, and it is one of the important indexes of sanitary towel products. The large amount of penetration indicates that the sanitary towel product has fast penetration and good absorbability. GB/T 8939-2008 "Sanitary napkins (including sanitary pads)" stipulates that the penetration of sanitary napkins is ≥1.8g, and sanitary pads are not assessed.
PH This is an index to measure the irritation of sanitary towel (including sanitary pad) products to the skin. Human skin is weakly acidic (the pH value of healthy skin is 5.0 ~ 5.6), and the standard GB/T 8939-2008 Sanitary napkins (including sanitary pads) stipulates that the pH value of sanitary napkins and sanitary pad products should be 4.0 ~ 9.0.
use
The sanitary requirements for reasonable purchase and proper storage of sanitary napkins are very strict, and the closer to the production date, the more guaranteed the quality. Don’t put the purchased sanitary napkins in the bathroom when they are stored, so as to avoid breeding mold and polluting sanitary napkins due to dark and humid environment.
People who should wash their hands before use have a lot of bacteria on their hands. When opening sanitary napkins, try not to touch the surface of sanitary napkins with your hands to avoid secondary pollution. It is best to wash your hands before use.
Combined use, timely replace the wing protection available during the day, and use the night type at night; Usually you can use the standard type; It can also be used in combination with ultra-thin or mini sanitary napkins or pads, which is safe and comfortable on the one hand and saves money on the other. In addition, because the blood is rich in nutrients, it is easy to become a "culture medium" for bacteria to breed, so when using sanitary napkins, you must be diligent in replacing them, and it is best not to use each sanitary napkin for more than 3 hours.
Main quality problems
Since 1992, the state has organized 15 national supervision and spot checks on the quality of sanitary napkins (including sanitary pads), among which sanitary napkins (including sanitary pads) were supervised and spot-checked for five consecutive years from 2008 to 2012. The main problems found in the spot checks are as follows:
Hygienic indicators of individual products are unqualified.
The unqualified sanitary indicators of sanitary napkins (including sanitary pads) are mainly due to the total number of bacterial colonies and fungal colonies exceeding the standard, and no coliform bacteria and pathogenic pyogenic bacteria have been detected.
The main reason for the unqualified health indicators is that the health indicators of raw materials are not up to standard, and individual enterprises use low-priced raw materials or even inferior raw materials in order to reduce costs. GB15979 -2002 "Hygienic Standard for Disposable Sanitary Articles" clearly stipulates raw materials: it is forbidden to use discarded sanitary articles as raw materials or semi-finished products. In the supervision and spot check, it was found that the surface layer of individual sanitary towel products was dirty, and after the surface layer material was opened, its absorption layer was mixed with some debris, which was due to the use of waste sanitary products as raw materials, and the hygienic index of such products far exceeded the standard requirements. In addition, some enterprises do not have a sound health system, the production environment is messy and unclean, and the production process and packaging process are not isolated from the outside world, so that semi-finished products and finished products are polluted in the production process, which is also the reason for the unqualified product health indicators.
The infiltration of some sanitary towel products is unqualified.
The unqualified penetration of sanitary towel products shows that sanitary towel products have no good permeability, so the absorption layer can’t play its role, and the product itself loses its use value, and liquid leakage will occur during use.
The main reason for the unqualified penetration of sanitary towel products is the poor penetration ability of the surface coating materials of sanitary towel products. Most of these products are dry mesh products, and the raw materials used for the surface layer of dry mesh products are generally perforated films. In order to reduce costs, some production enterprises use low-priced or even inferior perforated films, which can not play a role in penetration at all.
The pH value of some sanitary pad products exceeds the standard.
PH value is an important performance index of sanitary napkins (including sanitary pads). Sanitary napkins (including sanitary pads) are in contact with human skin during use. If the pH value exceeds the standard range, too high or too low will irritate the skin and cause skin allergies and other symptoms.
Through supervision and spot check in recent years, it is found that the unqualified pH value is mainly sanitary pad products, and the unqualified reason is mainly due to the unqualified pH value of raw materials. There are many raw materials for producing sanitary pads, including non-woven fabrics, perforated films, absorbent paper, release paper, hot melt adhesive, etc. Any high or low pH value of raw materials will cause the pH value of sanitary pads to exceed the standard range.
choose and buy
Complete product packaging marks The sanitary napkin packaging should have the following marks: product name, implementation standard number, trademark, enterprise name, address, contact information, variety specification, contained quantity, production date and shelf life or production batch number and limited use date, main production raw materials, etc. Sanitary napkins with complete labels should be selected, and products produced recently should be selected as far as possible.
Appearance distinguishes the advantages and disadvantages of sanitary napkins. The sealing of each outer package and independent small package should be smooth and free from air leakage. A good sanitary towel should have a clean surface, uniform thickness and intact sealing. In addition, from the hand feel, a good sanitary towel is made of fluff pulp with strong absorption and good bulkiness, so it is light and soft. If mixed with other pulp, leftovers, etc., sanitary napkins are heavy and hard.
We should pay attention to our own feelings. At present, there are many kinds of sanitary napkins, all of which have their own characteristics. Generally speaking, pure cotton sanitary napkins have fast absorption speed, good anti-infiltration performance of dry mesh, and appropriate medical sanitary napkins have health care functions. However, due to the different physical qualities of each person, the feelings of sanitary napkins will be different. For example, some people feel that the mesh surface is dry, some people feel that the mesh surface is uncomfortable to contact with the skin, and some people are allergic to medical sanitary napkins. Therefore, we should choose the kind that suits us best according to the actual feeling of our use.
Generally speaking, large sanitary towel enterprises have a good production environment, strict management and strict monitoring of physical properties and hygiene indicators, and many of them have passed the quality system certification. The safety of sanitary napkins selected by these enterprises can be relatively guaranteed.
Be careful of sanitary napkins made of foreign garbage. According to relevant reports, with the expansion of domestic sanitary napkin market, some small enterprises import waste scraps from foreign manufacturers to produce sanitary napkins with fluff pulp from diapers, diapers and sanitary napkins, and put them on the market, so it is difficult to guarantee the hygiene index. The sales price of this so-called "sanitary towel" is 50% lower than that of regular manufacturers. Consumers must keep their eyes open, avoid being greedy for cheap, try to buy brand products with good reputation in big shopping malls and supermarkets, and don’t buy them at random in roadside shops. Consumer Guide, July 2014
