Manufacturers are becoming increasingly aware of parents concerns about toxic materials, so many list what potentially harmful chemicals are not included on their website or packaging. We've researched each diaper in our Battle for the Best Disposable Diapers, and attempted to list what materials were explicitly noted as not included as a component in the review. Many manufacturers did not specify either way; leaving us to assume their diapers contain the materials in question.
Arrgh! The Mystery Ingredient May Be Toxic
Vexing to us is the lack of disclosure by many manufacturers about what, exactly, is in the diaper that they expect parents to place on baby's skin 24 x 7 for the next 3-5 years. We urge you to buy from manufacturers who offer complete transparency in their diaper ingredients. It is safer to buy from manufacturers who are not afraid to disclose their ingredients. The biggest brands, Huggies and Pampers, are often considered the most guilty on this score, but they are far from the only manufacturers who limit their disclosure of materials.
Some of this lack of disclosure is allowable by our government, such as Fragrance ingredients, which can be considered a proprietary trade secret and exempt from detailed disclosure. As reported in the Huffington Post and elsewhere, "…due to the 'trade secret' status of fragrances, manufacturers are still not required by the FDA to disclose their ingredients on the label or in any other way." As a result, a manufacturer may bury dozens of potentially toxic chemicals under a "Fragrance" ingredient listing. For this reason, and others (see below on Perfumes), we urge parents to buy Fragrance-free diapers only.
The fact is there are potentially harmful chemicals that are known to be present in some disposable diapers, including chlorine, dyes, fragrances, phthalates, and more. We advise relying on the Skeptic's Rule of Thumb when it comes to potentially harmful ingredients:
Super Absorbent Polymer (SAP)
The secret sauce inside disposable diapers since the mid-80s has been SAP. These tiny crystals are sprinkled inside the layers of the absorbent core of a diaper to absorb and trap fluid (i.e., from urine and wet poopy). These crystals go by several names including hydrogel, sodium polyacrylate, polyacrylate absorbents, or in Pamper's FAQ as Absorbent Gel Material (AGM) and can absorb a significant amount of liquid given their smaller size. It's not just major brands like Pampers and Huggies using SAP; it is in ALL of the diapers we tested. And we mean all.
Concerns about SAP come from multiple perspectives. Some of these are listed below:
SAP is a relatively new material, having been invented in Japan in the early 70s and only used in diapers since the mid-80s.
It is unclear if sufficient testing has been done to ensure that SAP is non-toxic and safe.
Most modern-day SAP is derived from petroleum and, therefore, may contain chemical components of concern.
In the past, SAP was linked with Toxic Shock Syndrome (Though it does appear that SAP itself was not a direct cause; more on this below).
In our research, we were not able to find credible, evidence-based studies which prove that SAP is either toxic or dangerous to humans. To the contrary, we have found some presumably tree-hugging green diaper companies who have concluded that the SAP they use is safe and non-toxic including but not limited to:
BAMBO
The Honest Company
Seventh Generation
On the whole, we're left to conclude, somewhat anxiously, that the body of evidence (or lack thereof) suggests that SAP appears to be safe. Perhaps as a testament to the apparent safety of SAP, our founder, Dr. Juliet Spurrier, used BAMBO Nature diapers, a green diaper with SAP, for overnight diapers with her children. Though Dr. Spurrier notes, emphatically, that if she knew then what she knows now about disposable diapers, she would have chosen cloth diapering for daytime use, and used a green disposable for overnight.
This short video will give you a feeling for SAP's unique water absorption capabilities:Link to Toxic Shock Syndrome
SAP has been linked to Toxic Shock Syndrome (TSS). However, most experts feel the SAP itself was not the cause. They believe the prolonged internal use of SAP tampons provided a breeding ground for bacteria which resulted in TSS. In 1978, Proctor & Gamble introduced the ill-fated Rely tampon. The use of SAP allowed the Rely tampon to absorb an entire menstrual flow, encouraging women to use the product for a prolonged period without replacement. By 1980, the popular Rely tampon was linked to an uptick in Toxic Shock Syndrome incidents and was recalled. As a result, the use of SAP in tampons was discontinued.
Biodegradable SAP
SAP is a plastic and to our knowledge, all of the SAP in diapers today is derived from petroleum. Several companies have stated an intention to manufacture plant-based biodegradable SAP. Similar to the processes used for creating biodegradable trash bags, a combination of cellulose from wood or wheat, and starch from corn, potato, yams or other starch-rich plants, can be used to make a plant-based SAP which has similar absorbency to its petroleum-based cousin, but with improved biodegradability. To our knowledge, plant-based SAP is not currently being used by any diaper manufacturer that we are aware of, but we are optimistic that it will be in the near future. Because these materials are relatively new, they have not undergone any significant testing. However, the use of natural and sustainable materials and increased biodegradability are a virtuous combination.
Chlorine-free and Why it Matters
In disposable diapers, chlorine is used as a bleach to whiten diaper material. The problem with chlorine is that it emits small traces of known toxic chemicals called dioxins during the bleaching process. The desire to keep baby from being exposed to dioxins is the primary motivation for using chlorine-free diapers. This type of chlorine is not the same chlorine you find in your laundry room, but a gas form of the chemical with a different chemical makeup.
Dioxins
Based on animal studies, dioxins have the potential to "cause reproductive and developmental problems, damage the immune system, interfere with hormones and also cause cancer." The Environmental Protection Agency has identified dioxins as a "likely human carcinogen."
While dioxins are only found in trace quantities in chlorine-bleached diapers, we prefer "none" to "trace" when it comes to babies, particularly newborns because their skin is so thin. That's why we advocate going with a chlorine-free diaper. Also, upon further investigation, we aren't sure that this conviction is as useful as we once thought as dioxins are present everywhere. And while the goal would be to eliminate or limit your baby's exposure to dioxins, studies indicate it is hard to get away from dioxins with the largest culprit being the food we eat.
In fact, while trace amounts of dioxins are found in disposable diapers, the study we read indicated dioxins were also present on cloth diapers making it virtually impossible to find or choose a dioxin-free diaper option.
This information makes it more difficult than we originally thought to find a truly dioxin free option no matter what the production method is. However, before you assume it doesn't matter, the bleaching process of diapers does create dioxins that end up in the environment and eventually find their way into our food supply chain. These dioxins accumulate in our bodies and can be passed to a baby through breastmilk. So, while it may be less important what is in the diaper, it still matters what ends up in the environment. So going chlorine free means you are doing good things for the environment, and in the long run, this translates to good things for all the babies.
Happily, going chlorine-free does not need to pinch your pocketbook. Many of the diapers we tested are produced using Elemental Chlorine-Free (ECF) or Total Chlorine-Free (TCF) production methods, and several are budget-friendly: Cuties at $0.23/diaper is elemental chlorine-free and perfume-free, LUVS $0.14/diaper is elemental chlorine-free but has a clear perfumed scent. The Top Pick Seventh Generation at $0.30/diaper is totally chlorine and perfume-free in addition to current Editors' Choice Babyganics at $0.32/diaper and Eco by Naty at $0.37/diaper.
Perfume-free Preferred
Perfume fragrances are sometimes used in disposable diapers, presumably to mask poop's distinctive stench. However, an infant's rapidly evolving organ systems are both immature and exquisitely sensitive to chemical insults. The scents found in many diapers are strong and chemical-laden, harboring unnecessary irritants with the potential to cause health issues like diaper rash and respiratory symptoms. Equally concerning, manufacturers are not required to disclose the chemicals used in fragrances as the FDA allows them to consider their fragrances "trade secrets." The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics notes that "in a 2010 study of fragranced products by the Environmental Impact Assessment Review of fragranced products titled Fragranced consumer products: Chemicals emitted, ingredients unlisted, it was found that "each product emitted volatile organic compounds that have been identified as toxic or hazardous under federal law", yet, "fragrance remains unregulated."
Our recommendation is simple: choose a perfume-free diaper. You don't need it, so it's not worth the risk. And, like avoiding chlorine in diapers, avoiding perfume in diapers is easy and painless. A lot of great diapers are perfume-free, and let's be honest, the fragrance doesn't mask or improve the smell of a dirty diaper. If a diaper is stinky, you should change it, not mask it.
Be Careful with Dyes
Dyes in diapers can be found in the colored patterns on the outside of the diaper, in the leg cuff and back elastic, and in the wetness indicator. These dyes can cause skin rash, as they may cause allergic reactions in some babies where the dye touches baby's skin. In a study published in Pediatrics in 2005, switching to dye-free diapers were shown to eliminate skin rashes which occurred in areas exposed to colored portions of diapers.
The photo shown below is an example of dermatitis caused by the dyes contained in the leg cuff of a diaper. Notice the green cuff of the diaper; this green color is created using dyes.
Other diaper companies, like BAMBO and Honest Diapers, use dye pigments that do not contain heavy metals, which they believe are safe and hypoallergenic. To make things even more confusing or difficult to understand or compare from one diaper to another is the terminology that each manufacturer uses. We would like to include information on dyes in our review for choosing diapers, however, we are finding it very difficult to do so. With words like dye, disperse dye, pigments, colorants, and inks floating around (depending on which diaper you are reviewing) it became difficult to understand. When we tried to delve deeper to sort it out, we found even more confusing information.
There seems to be no clear or consistent use of any of the words. What one manufacturer calls a pigment, might be called a colorant by another. With no agreed-upon definitions or governing body to regulate the use of the words, it is hard to say what is in each diaper. What we found were some diapers that said dye-free had obvious prints. When we looked at their websites for more information, we found the words pigments, inks, and colorants to describe the prints.
Our take on it: we like dye-free and recommend it. Features like wetness indicators though helpful are unnecessary and we prefer to keep it simple. We suggest you look for diapers that have no apparent colors near baby's skin. So while a pattern on the back cover may not cause a problem, colored leg cuffs might. If your baby has a reaction to a particular diaper, which claims to be dye free, we suggest you try a different brand just in case the original diaper did use an additive but calls it pigments.
Fear of Phthalates
If you already read our article, Are Plastics Safe for Baby Bottles, you may know that phthalates are a plastic ingredient of concern. And, they may also be in your baby's diaper. Phthalates are mainly plasticizers, or "substances added to plastics to increase their flexibility, transparency, durability, and longevity." They are commonly used to soften plastic, for example in making a soft vinyl, and are also commonly added to lotions and shampoos. In some disposable diapers, phthalates may be used as part of the process to create a waterproof outer liner. Phthalates are not tightly chemically bonded to the plastic, and as noted in the Pediatrics paper cited below, "are therefore continuously released into the air or through leaching into liquids."
Phthalates are on the radar of the medical community — and we think they should be on yours too — due to potential toxic effects to the developing endocrine and reproductive systems, which infants are particularly vulnerable. Phthalate sources are not limited to some diaper liners, but are in a broad range of "plastic products such as children's toys, lubricants, infant care products, chemical stabilizers in cosmetics, personal care products, and polyvinyl chloride tubing." The American Academy of Pediatrics journal, Pediatrics, published a paper titled, Baby Care Products: Possible Sources of Phthalate Exposure in July 2008. In this paper, they noted, "Children are uniquely vulnerable to phthalate exposures given their hand-to-mouth behaviors, floor play, and developing nervous and reproductive systems."
Not all diapers use Phthalates. But, figuring out which ones do is a challenge, since US law does not require disclosure of Phthalates.
Again, we advocate using the Skeptic's Rule of Thumb when it comes to potentially toxic ingredients: "if they don't say it's not in there, then assume it's in there." Here are a few manufacturers who have gone on record stating there are no phthalates in their diapers:
