BOSTON — As they researched women’s health care for a civic action project at Frontier Regional High School in 2022, three eighth grade students were appalled to learn that menstrual products — such as tampons and pads — can contain potentially harmful chemicals and toxins.

“We thought, you know what you put into your body, nutrition-wise,” said Anna Haskins, one of the students. “So you would want to know what you put into your body if you’re a woman or anyone who experiences a menstrual cycle.”

Determined to create change, the students — current Frontier juniors Haskins, Greta Hale and Malcolm Howard — worked with legislators to file a bill in 2023 that would mandate the disclosure of ingredients in menstrual products.

Two years later, lawmakers and activists are still pushing for the bill’s passage into state law, along with other legislation to support menstrual equity.

The ingredient disclosure bill is part of a three-piece package of legislation to support menstrual equity in Massachusetts. One bill would increase access to menstrual products in public buildings. Another, called the I AM bill, would mandate access to disposable menstrual products in schools, homeless shelters and incarcerated facilities. The ingredient disclosure legislation is the third piece.

Several leaders on the topic, including Rep. Natalie Blais, D-Deerfield, and Sen. Jo Comerford, D-Northampton, convened to show their support during a virtual advocacy day at the State House earlier this month.

“These three students have now led the way on this issue about raising awareness about the fact that we don’t know what we are putting in our bodies,” Blais said.

After working with Blais to develop the legislation regarding ingredient disclosure, Haskins, Hale and Howard now hope the legislation will be passed in the current legislative session.

“It started off as, ‘OK, what do we want to create change in our community for?’” said Haskins. “We looked into different problems and kind of a gap in research about menstrual products.”

Although manufacturers are recommended to disclose the ingredients in their products, they are not required. Without any federal law on the issue, New York and California are the only two states to have passed ingredient disclosure mandates into law.

Haskins, Hale and Howard believe Massachusetts should be the next state to take a stand.

Comerford, who is a lead sponsor of the bill along with Blais, said the origin of the legislation is “the perfect story of democracy in action.”

“Constituents bring concerns, legislators listen and then we are responsive through legislation and our own advocacy,” Comerford said. “My team and I think of this as an illustration of ‘how it works’ for us in the commonwealth.”

After the bill was initially filed, Haskins, Hale and Howard traveled to Boston to appear before the Legislature’s Joint Committee on Public Health. They’ve stayed in touch with Blais, who has offered updates on the status of the bill.

Last legislative session, the bill went to the state Senate Ways and Means Committee, although it did not go up for a vote. Both the I AM bill and the legislation that would mandate menstrual products in public buildings died in the House Ways and Means Committee.

Sasha Goodfriend, the executive director of feminist advocacy group Mass NOW, noted that the ingredients bill would serve as an important complement to the other legislation regarding access to menstrual products.

“It’s important we don’t have an inverse impact by passing bills to increase access to products, and then having harmful products being distributed to our most vulnerable populations,” Goodfriend said. “We want to make sure we have quality products distributed and that people can make informed choices about what product is right for them.”

Whether the bill is passed into law in this legislative session or not, Howard said he’s proud of the impact he, Haskins and Hale have made since they began to research the topic back in eighth grade.

“Often you feel like as a citizen, you have some kind of voice, but it’s hard to actually see that voice in practice,” Howard said. “With this, it was really a chance to see and hear how we were making a difference.”

Mitchell Fink writes for the Gazette as part of the Boston University Statehouse Program.