History of Disposable Diapers

History

• Disposable diapers first appeared in Sweden around 1940. The first completely disposable diapers were not manufactured in the United States until the 1950s. They used thick layers of tissue papers to absorb liquids. In 1961, Pampers began manufacturing thinner diapers with cellulose fibers instead of tissue paper. The 1980s brought contradictory trends, with companies looking to produce a biodegradable disposable diaper while at the same time adding decidedly non-biodegradable elastic around the legs and waist of the diaper for comfort. More recent years have seen more streamlined diapers, diapers produced for each gender, and diapers produced for more age groups.

Significance

• In a recent survey conducted by Texas A&M University, 81 percent of parents told surveyors they used only disposable diapers on their babies, 15 percent used a combination of cloth and disposable diapers, and 4 percent used only cloth diapers. Best estimates suggest that a baby goes through more than 5000 diapers before being toilet trained.

Materials

• Disposable diapers are made of a thin layer of polyester that goes next to an infant&'s skin. The polyester allows liquids to pass through to the next layer of the diaper, an absorbent material manufactured from pine trees. Its scientific name is sodium polyacrylate. The outside of the diaper is composed of waterproof plastic. The diapers are held in place by pieces of tape and are, as the name suggests, good for one use only before they must be thrown away and replaced by a fresh diaper.

Benefits

• Disposable diapers have several benefits.They save parents the time of washing cloth diapers or the cost of paying for a service to do so. Since disposable diapers are used only once, parents do not need to be concerned about whether or not the diapers have been cleansed properly. The tape used to fasten disposable diapers is also preferable to the old-fashioned diaper pins which would sometimes come undone and poke babies.

Warning

• The most common complaint about disposable diapers is that they are not biodegradable. Once they are dumped in a landfill, they will remain there forever. If not treated properly, the bacteria and viruses from human waste can seep into the ground and even into water supplies. In 1998, it was estimated that diapers accounted for 3.4 million tons of waste, although they made up only 2.1 percent of total waste products.

Theories/Speculation

• Several companies have claimed success manufacturing biodegradable disposable diapers by using cornstarch instead of plastic. Experts, however, are skeptical, stating that even with these changes, disposable diapers do not biodegrade well in airtight landfills. Some environmentalists advocate a return to cloth diapers. This has led to a war of statistics between cloth fans and disposable fans, with each side accusing the other of being more wasteful of natural resources. While the environmental concerns are certainly valid, there appears to be no easy solution in sight.