Two University of Pennsylvania graduate students created the first flushable pregnancy test, that was just cleared by the FDA for over-the-counter sales, Jezebel reports.
The Lia test works just like any regular pregnancy test, but because it is made with plant fibers and natural materials. Much like toilet paper, it is flushable and arguably safer for the environment. It is also more discreet and not having to walk around or attempt to hide a chunky plastic pregnancy test is one of the many perks.
The company’s founders, Bethany Edwards and Anna Courturier Simpson just recently won $50,000 and the Disrupt Cup at TechCrunch’s Disrupt Berlin 2017. During a Q&A they noted, “To date in our testing we’ve had 100 percent sensitivity and 100 percent specificity. So there’s no false positives, no false negatives, in the lab and in our user studies.”
They also said that the first pregnancy test to hit the user-friendly market was 30 years ago, and since then there has been zero innovation. “It’s been the same stick test since 1987, and that’s kind of crazy,” Edwards says.
They plan to begin selling tests in mid-2018 and predict the price will range between $9 and $22.