What Are Disposable Diapers?

Dispoable diapers have been around since the mid-20th century.

Disposable diapers are a product designed to be worn by infants to catch excrement and urine, which are used once and thrown away. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that a typical infant uses 8,000 diapers in his early childhood years. Disposable diapers have been around since the mid-20th century, and today's disposables are designed to be thinner, lighter and more absorbent, so they can soak up a large amount of liquid without causing discomfort.

History

The disposable diaper can trace its roots back to a period stretching from the1930s to the '50s, when inventors in Europe and North America were simultaneously designing a new type of diaper. The first disposables were considered to have limited potential because of their high cost. Mass-marketed disposable diapers were introduced in the United States in 1948 by Johnson & Johnson. Proctor & Gamble later unveiled Pampers in 1961, and Kimberly Clark introduced Kimbies in 1968, which later became Huggies.

Composition

Today's disposable diapers contain an absorbent inner lining typically made of a wood pulp and absorbent polymer materials, such as sodium polyacrylate, a compound that can soak up 30 times its weigh in urine. Each diaper has an outer waterproof covering made of a polyethylene film to keep liquids from leaking out into clothes.

Dangers of Disposable Diapers

There have been very few cases of allergic skin reactions to sodium polyacrylate, while some dyes have triggered reactions in rare cases. Most disposable diapers contain dioxins, but not enough to threaten a baby's health, and the most dangerous types aren't found in diapers. In 2010, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission and Health Canada released a study on Pampers Dry Max disposable diapers after more than 4,700 reports of diaper rash. The review did not find a link between the diapers and the reported rashes, but the safety commission said it cannot rule out that some babies who have sensitive skin could develop rashes as a result of contact with materials in the diapers or other products.

Disposable vs. Cloth

The debate between disposable diapers and cloth diapers is dominated by environmental factors. Disposable diapers are considered the least environmentally friendly because most end up in a landfill. In 2006, diapers took up about 2.1 percent of U.S. landfills. According to the U.S. EPA, a disposable diaper can remain centuries in a landfill. But cloth diapers have environmental drawbacks as well, as they use more energy and water to clean. The American Academy of Pediatrics notes that cloth diapers don't keep wetness away from a baby's skin as well as a disposable, meaning they should be changed more frequently after becoming wet or soiled.

References

• BabyCenter: What's in Disposable Diapers?; Chris Woolston; October 2010
• Healthy Children: Diapers, Disposable or Cloth?; November 2010
• U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission: No Specific Cause Found Yet Linking Dry Max Diapers to Diaper Rash; September 2010
• Environmental Protection Agency: 10 Fast Facts on Recycling; April 2010
• Mother Jones: A Brief History of the Disposable Diaper; Kiera Butler and Dave Gilson; June 2008
• Kimberly Clark: Disposable Diapers Story