Mycelium-Based Tampons

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1. ABSTRACT

Significance: Period poverty affects over 500 million people world-wide and leads to missed education/work and health risks from using improper materials. When available, single-use menstrual products create significant environmental damages including plastic pollution and an annual release of hundreds of thousands of tons of waste.

Broad Objective: The aim of the project is to create mycelium-based menstrual products.

Hypothesis:

Specific Aims:

• Aim 01. Engineer mycelium to fit quality and safety standards for industrial production.
• Aim 02. Engineer mycelium to kill bacterial strains such as Staphylococcus aureus and Streptococcus pyogenes or neutralize their toxins to reduce the risks of toxic shock syndrome.
• Aim 03. Explore the possibility to grow DIY mycelium-based menstrual products. End period poverty and reduced menstrual pollution.

Methods:

2. PROJECT AIMS

AIM 01: EXPERIMENT

AIM 02: DEVELOPMENT

AIM 03: VISION

3. BACKGROUND

Selected references:

Environmental impact of menstrual hygiene products. Bull World Health Organ (2024) https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11865846/

Toxic Shock Syndrome: A Literature Review. Antibiotics (2024) https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38247655/