Samhitha Kiran Maddu
8th Grade, The Globe Academy
Atlanta, GA
Plasticizers in Pads: A Study of Phthalate Content
Plasticizers in menstrual pads make products flexible and durable but can mimic reproductive hormones. Samhitha took samples of drugstore pads and organic brands and used their phthalates to generate a dye to measure the plasticizers each contained. She found drugstore brands had more phthalates than organic brands.
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Project Background
Two years ago, Samhitha read an article on NPR about toxic metals in menstrual products. “As someone who uses menstrual products myself, I obviously became concerned regarding what else might be present and what that might entail for my health,” she says. When Samhitha went to choose a science fair project, she immediately decided she wanted to look for plasticizers in menstrual products. Plasticizers such as phthalates are chemical compounds that make products flexible and durable. But they can also mimic reproductive hormones such as estrogen.
Tactics and Results
Samhitha purchased four brands of menstrual pads from the store. Two were drugstore brands, while two others labeled themselves as organic. As a positive control, she also tested a plastic bottle cap and plastic packaging. She cut three samples out of each pad, and soaked them in ethanol to extract the phthalates. She then used different chemicals and heat to turn the phthalates into a bright green-yellow dye called fluorescein, where the strength of the color would indicate the amount of phthalates in the product. Finally she exposed each sample to a spectrophotometer, which measured the light absorbed by the dye. She showed that while all of the menstrual products had phthalates, the two drugstore products had the highest levels of phthalates, while the two organic brands had lower amounts.
Beyond the Project
Samhitha fell in love with math before science, but when she saw the Science Bob website, she discovered her passion. She has since attended science camps and volunteers at the Fernbank Museum of National History in Atlanta. “I’m most excited to run the astronomy and anatomy cart,” she says. Samhitha plays the piano, but “my most fulfilling activity is the student-formed band I’m in,” she says. “From gigs to rehearsals, nothing quite encapsulates the feeling of joy that music brings us all.” She also likes to crochet, and says it quiets her mind.
