Korean Scientists Launch Plant-Based Period Pads in U.S.

Most "organic" period pads aren't as natural as you think. While the top layer might be organic cotton, the absorbent core inside still uses synthetic plastic polymers.

A team of female scientists from KAIST, South Korea's premier science university, decided to change that. Their company Inertia just launched Prism Pads in the U.S., featuring a patented plant-based absorbent core called LABOCELL that replaces the synthetic materials found in nearly every pad on store shelves.

Co-founder and CEO Hyoyi Kim and her team spent years developing the cellulose-based technology. Their innovation tackles the part of the pad that matters most: the absorbent core that does the actual work of managing menstrual flow.

Each Prism Pad combines organic cotton on top, the bio-based LABOCELL core in the middle, and a sugarcane-derived backsheet on the bottom. No plastic-based polymers, no chlorine, no fragrance, no dyes. The pads earned USDA Certified Biobased Product status at 82% biobased content and received top marks for skin compatibility from Dermatest.

Korean Scientists Launch Plant-Based Period Pads in U.S.

The innovation already resonates with consumers back home. Since launch, Inertia has sold over 10 million pads and claimed the number one feminine care spot at Olive Young, South Korea's largest health and beauty retailer.

Why This Inspires

In an industry that has relied on the same hidden synthetic materials for decades, a team of female scientists looked deeper than surface-level "organic" marketing. They asked what actually goes inside the products people use on their bodies every month and built a solution from scratch.

Their success shows what happens when scientists who understand both the chemistry and the lived experience decide to reimagine an everyday product. Innovation doesn't always mean reinventing the wheel. Sometimes it means asking honest questions about what we've accepted as normal.

American consumers now have access to period care designed by women scientists who refused to accept that "organic" on the label was enough.