McMaster research targets menstrual cup ‘mess’ with absorbent tablets to tackle period stigma

Aura Carreño Rosas · CBC News

· Posted: Nov 04, 2025 4:00 AM EST | Last Updated: November 4

Close to a 4th of the world’s colonisation menstruates, but innovation successful menstrual products has been sparse, says a McMaster researcher.

“This is simply a tract ripe for innovation. There is truthful overmuch that tin beryllium done. And past determination are very, precise elemental needs that are not met,” said McMaster University prof Zeinab Hosseinidoust.

Hosseinidoust works retired of the section of chemic engineering astatine the Hamilton university. 

She worked alongside subordinate prof Tohid Didar to make astute tablets that enactment with menstrual cups to marque them much accessible and trim the “mess” that tin travel on with them.

WATCH | McMaster researchers make tablet to marque menstrual cups little 'messy':

According to UN Women, the United Nations bureau charged with moving for sex equality and empowering women, implicit 2 cardinal radical successful the satellite menstruate. In Canada, 1 successful six radical who menstruate person experienced play poverty, with the mean idiosyncratic spending astir $6,000 successful play products implicit their lifetime, and 1 successful 4 Canadians “agree periods are soiled and unclean,” according to national authorities research.

Menstrual cups person go progressively fashionable successful caller years for being eco-friendly and cost-effective due to the fact that they tin beryllium reused for years. 

Hosseinidoust said she wondered wherefore radical weren't utilizing menstrual cups, and decided to look astatine comments nether societal media posts.

“A batch of them ask, ‘what astir the mess?’ So determination is that concern, whether it's existent oregon not,” she said.

It was a elemental solution to a elemental problem, said Hosseinidoust.

“It was conscionable a substance of opening the doors and looking astatine the problem, alternatively than ignoring it, which 1 tin reason that erstwhile it comes to menstrual wellness and women's health, that has been the attitude,” she said.

Zeinab Hosseinidoust is simply a prof astatine McMaster University, she works retired of the section of chemic engineering. (Aura Carreño Rosas/CBC)

Period products interaction the mode immoderate radical function

Dior David, a McMaster assemblage student, told CBC Hamilton portion the process is not messy for her, the tablets are a “great idea.”

David said utilizing a tablet similar that would let her to alteration retired a cupful oregon disc successful a nationalist bath without having to locomotion retired to a descend to rinse and said if available, she’d usage it.

“It would honestly conscionable marque everything much convenient. I deliberation that 1 of the reasons wherefore I decided to bare my cupful successful the showers is due to the fact that I privation to debar the mess, and [a tablet] would conscionable beryllium precise casual to woody with,” said David.

The tablet is made from seaweed-based materials, it is flushable and inexpensive to marque (Aura Carreño Rosas/CBC)

Jennifer Abraham, who besides goes to McMaster university, told CBC Hamilton it’s “cool to perceive astir innovations successful the menstrual industry.”

“I deliberation it's important that we person much products, much acquisition astir it, truthful that mode radical tin take an enactment that works champion for them,” she said.

Abraham said it’s important probe similar this exists to beforehand speech and trim stigma astir periods.

“Things similar this interaction however a pistillate is capable to relation and that tin interaction her relation successful society,” she said.

Tablet has the imaginable to observe and forestall infections

The tablets are azygous use, which decision 2 of the purposes of menstrual cups: biology interaction and cost-effectiveness. 

However, they are besides biodegradable, flushable, inexpensive to marque and crafted from a renewable resource: seaweed.

Hosseinidoust said if the merchandise tin assistance radical who menstruate go much consenting to effort a menstrual cup, it would beryllium helping to trim the billions of disposable menstrual products utilized worldwide connected a regular basis, fundamentally “hitting aggregate birds with 1 stone.”

In summation to that, the tablets besides person the imaginable to observe things similar UTIs, bacterial vaginosis and staph infections. 

Laboratory manager Lubna Najm, left, and PhD campaigner Shaghayegh Moghimi besides worked connected the improvement of the tablets. (Aura Carreño Rosas/CBC)

Bacteriophages, which person been the absorption of Hosseinidoust’s research, are viruses that infect bacteria. She said they tin termination atrocious bacteria without sidesplitting the bully bacteria. 

“One of the things that we're looking into, actively moving on, is integrating these bacteriophages with immoderate of these menstrual products to some observe and get escaped of infections,” she said.

That probe is already underway and it has the imaginable to scope each sorts of products, not conscionable these tablets.

Hosseinidoust said arsenic a researcher, uncovering specified a large spread successful enactment towards innovation successful menstrual products was similar discovering a golden mine.

“But astatine the aforesaid time, arsenic a woman, arsenic a menstruating person, you think, ‘really?’” she said.