This new pregnancy test is flushable *and* environmentally-friendly

Believe it or not, the traditional at-home pregnancy test hasn’t undergone a significant redesign in 30 years. Yep. Women are essentially using 1987 technology for what is often a critical moment in their lives. However, the company Lia Diagnostics just developed a biodegradable pregnancy test that is also flushable — which is great for both the planet and your privacy (because nothing is more discreet than something you can literally flush down the toilet).

Bethany Edwards, who co-founded the company in 2015 with Anna Simpson, told TechCrunch Disrupt Berlin,

“Single-use diagnostics are only used for a couple of minutes, and they’re all made out of plastic and non-sustainable materials."

And where does that plastic end up? Landfills. Edwards also noted that the new biodegradable tests function the exact same way as traditional ones: They react to a woman’s urine and display two lines on the stick if she’s pregnant, one line if she’s not.

A flushable test is also good news for women who may not feel comfortable leaving a used pregnancy test somewhere in their home where it could potentially be found by others. This is a very real issue, and it’s high time a pregnancy-detection test fully caters to women’s needs.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_6PaZCl1C3I?feature=oembed

Edwards began working on the concept as part of her masters degree at the University of Pennsylvania, where she had an interest in material science innovations. Pretty freaking cool, right?

The new test has been FDA-approved, and will be sold online on the company’s website in mid-2018. It will cost somewhere between $9 and $22 (aka somewhere between the highest and lowest prices of traditional pregnancy tests). AND BONUS: Visitors to the Lia website can opt to donate a test to organizations like Planned Parenthood for an additional $10.

We officially love everything about this.