Good news, local menstruators: You'll soon know what actually goes into your tampons, pads, menstrual cups, and period underwear.

Governor Andrew Cuomo just signed into law a bill, the first of its kind in the nation, that will require menstrual product manufacturers to list all of their products’ ingredients on the label. The law is set to go into effect in six months.

“The fact is that people who menstruate put things in and on their bodies for 24 hours a day, for a week a month, for up to 40 years,” New York State Assembly Member Linda B. Rosenthal, who wrote the bill, told WNYC. 

“And how could it be that when we know the ingredients of any food product we ingest, we don't know what tampons and pads are made of?” Rosenthal said. “And we put this inside and on our sensitive body parts.”

Because tampons and pads are classified as “medical devices,” there was no regulation requiring a full list of ingredients to appear on product labels—until now. Maybe that’s why a lot of misinformation exists about what ingredients menstrual products actually contain. For example, the internet is full of rumors that tampons contain asbestos or other terrifying substances. 

Packaging that lists “all intentionally added ingredients” should alleviate fears. (But it should be noted that the most feared tampon-related problem of all, Toxic Shock Syndrome, can take place even when you’re using unbleached, 100% cotton tampons.)

In a statement, Rosenthal pointed to the problem “undisclosed volatile compounds, including known reproductive toxins, like carbon disulfide and methylene chloride,” in menstrual products. Manufacturers also alter the composition of tampon fibers, changing the ratio of cotton to synthetic materials like rayon depending on the price of cotton, unbeknownst to consumers, she said. 

Rosenthal told WNYC she hoped the new state-level regulation in would prompt menstrual product manufacturers to list their ingredients nationwide.

“What I hope is that this will inspire them to disclose ingredients in every state,” she said. “This is the kind of information people need to know.”

"It's part of my quest for menstrual equity, where having a period is not a shameful thing. It's a normal biological function and everything that goes with that is just revealed."

Additional reporting by Gwynne Hogan/WNYC