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Diapers: Bad for the Environment and Baby Too?

Friday, October 10, 2008

In the tenth installment of her "Dangerous or Safe?" series, pediatrician Dr. Cara Natterson sets the record straight on diapers -- both disposable and reusable.

biohazardous glowing diaper

The people who oppose disposable diapers worry about their environmental impact:

• They account for an estimated 2% of the garbage generated in the U.S.
• Over time they accumulate in landfills.
• In order to make these diapers, toxins like dioxin are released into our environment.

Disposable diaper foes also suggest that they might harm a baby's health, suggesting that the super-absorbent polymers (called sodium polyacrylate) responsible for absorbing the water in urine and stool could pose a direct risk to the child.

• Sodium polyacrylate is used in the form of crystals.
• These crystals absorb 200-300 times their weight in water, turning into a gel in the process.
• Sodium polyacrylate was used in tampons until 1985, but reports linking it to toxic shock syndrome resulted in its removal.
• But tampons are inserted into the body and the sodium polyacrylate in diapers is not only not inside the body, it is three layers removed.
• The crystals that parents often find on their children's skin when taking off a wet diaper are not sodium polyacrylate but rather urate crystals, a normal byproduct of urine which has had the water removed -- the dehydrated urate forms pinkish-orange crystals.

Cloth diapers are a good alternative to disposable diapers, but:

• They aren't necessarily environmentally pristine as some of them have bleached cottons, so the environmental byproduct dioxin is still generated.
• They have their own health concerns, because when a baby wets or soils a cloth diaper, the urine or stool sits right next to the skin, increasing the chance of diaper rash (compared to disposable diapers) if the diaper isn't changed quickly.

What is the bottom line?

• From a health standpoint, there is very little difference between disposable and cloth diapers: Both are safe.
• The real issue here is one of environmental impact.
• Some diaper manufacturers have produced "hybrid" diapers that have a reusable exterior shell and a disposable core. The idea here is to reduce the burden on our landfills while maintaining the convenience of disposability.
• When choosing a diaper, chlorine-free products are probably better for the environment. But there are other manufacturing considerations way beyond the scope of this book.

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2 comments so far | Post a comment now >>

 
I think the best option is using gDiapers, which are an in-between. I always felt guilty about using disposables, but I justcoulnd’t keep up with the laundry - or the mess (I am kind of skittish). gDiapers are the perfect combination for me, and on top of it they are really cute!!
- Elisa
Posted 10/10/08 01:57 PM
 
I agree. We’ve been using gDiapers on our daughter for a couple of weeks now (she’s 8 weeks, so they were too big for her up until recently) and they are great. Yes, a bit messier than disposables, but that’s a small price to pay for being flushable and compostable. There is another disposable diaper from Sweden that is truly biodegradable, but they aren’t available here in Canada. You can only get them at select Target stores in the US, and a couple of other countries. They’re called Nature Babycare Diapers (http://www.naty.com/)
- Victoria
Posted 10/11/08 08:36 PM
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