Disposable Diapers: Infertility and Asthma

I want to start by saying I am in no way bashing anyone's parenting decisions, or trying to guilt anyone.  This subject was something explored due to the massive increase in infertility in the last couple decades.  And the main event connected to that was the introduction of disposable diapers.

I understand the demands of today's world, and its not always possible (medically or because of responsibilities) to breastfeed, cloth diaper, stay at home, or any other of the many "Recommended" things to do with/for your children today.  Its just not possible in this fast-paced world.

My household does its best to breastfeed and cloth diaper our kids.  With the twins, it was a combination of formula and breastmilk, but Boy had to be exclusively breastmilk-fed, because of gastrointestinal issues.  They were cloth-diapered at home, and disposabily diapered when we were out and about, and unable to carry around 4-5 dirty diapers.

Now, they are pretty much potty trained, with some exceptions, at which times they wear pullups.

Our new baby is much easier (being one baby, not two) to handle with cloth diapering and breastfeeding.  We are fortunate to not have to supplement formula, but we (they) have been doing a *lot* of cross country travel, which is admittedly easier when diapers can be thrown away after use.  And so, we use disposable diapers when needed.

We are in a world where a lot of chemicals and toxins are finding their ways into things we use every day.  And while it sometimes feels like nothing is safe, it is merely a matter of knowing what you are up against, and knowing your gameplan.

Even if its just letting your baby lounge around on a towel, freeballin, for an hour or two a day, who knows, it could make a difference.  It lets things dry out, helping prevent diaper rash; and gets their skin a break from being engulfed in cotton/bamboo/polyester/disposable material, detergent, chemicals, pee, poop, whatever.  Let them enjoy it while its still legal for them!!!

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• By Anthony Browne
• London Observer Service 
• September 26, 2000

    Disposable diapers could be the cause of the sharp rise in male infertility over the past 25 years, according to an authoritative scientific study to be published this week. It is thought that disposable diapers heat up baby boys' testicles to such a degree that it stops them developing normally.  Diapers lined with plastic raise the temperature of the scrotum far above body temperature and can lead to a total breakdown of normal cooling mechanisms, according to the study published in the Archives of Disease in Childhood. Doctors in Kiel, Germany, started the study after being alarmed at the temperature of the testicles of infant boys who were brought into hospitals with infections.  The cells supporting sperm production are laid down in the first two years of life. However, their development and sperm production in later life is very dependent on temperature. Testicles need to be cooler than the rest of the body, which is why they are external.
Boys whose testicles descend too late in adolescence are often infertile because they have been kept warm for too long. In adults, exposure to high temperatures, during a fever or while in a sauna, can dramatically reduce sperm count. Tight jeans can also lead to higher testicular temperatures, possibly causing a reduction in sperm count.  Dr. Wolfgang Sippell, professor of pediatrics at the University of Kiel, monitored the scrotal temperature of 48 healthy boys, from birth up to 4 years old, using a tiny thermal probe. His team tested the temperatures when boys wore disposable diapers and when they wore re-usable cotton diapers, both during waking and sleeping hours.  The temperature was consistently higher when the disposable diapers were worn, with the highest temperatures recorded in the youngest babies. Scrotal temperatures were the same as rectal temperatures when cotton diapers were worn, but far higher when disposable diapers were worn.

    They concluded that the insulation properties of the disposable diapers impaired the normal cooling mechanisms of the testicles. They found that in 13 boys, the cooling mechanism failed altogether.  Sippell concluded: "A prolonged increase in scrotal temperature in early childhood may have an important role in subsequent testicular health and function, with implications for male fertility."  Repeated studies have shown that average sperm counts have fallen by almost half from 1938 levels and are continuing to decline as fast as 2 percent a year.  The Absorbent Hygiene Products Manufacturers Association, which represents makers of disposable diapers, said the study had dubious methodology. Association spokesman Peter Stephenson said: "There is no evidence to support the assertions made by this study, which would appear to be implausible. The safety of our products is of paramount importance. Disposable diapers are, and remain, safe."

• Penny Stern, MD
• October 6, 1999

    NEW YORK, Oct 06 (Reuters Health) -- Childhood respiratory problems, including asthma, may be linked to inhaling the mixture of chemicals emitted from disposable diapers, researchers write in the September/October issue of Archives of Environmental Health.

    Lead author Dr. Rosalind C. Anderson, of Anderson Laboratories in West Hartford, Vermont, told Reuters Health that chemical emissions of some disposable diapers have immediate health effects in animals breathing the diluted chemical mixtures.  ''Upon analysis, the diaper emissions were found to include several chemicals with documented respiratory toxicity,'' according to the paper.

    "Mice were used in this study because of their general physiological and biochemical similarity to humans", Anderson explained, "adding that both humans and mice develop bronchoconstriction as a response to certain (odors and substances)".  Bronchoconstriction refers to a narrowing of air passages in the lungs that is associated with respiratory difficulties.

    "Upon exposing the mice to various brands of disposable diapers, a decrease (was observed) in the ability of (the) animals to move air during exhalation", Anderson said. Noting that this finding accurately describes asthma or an asthma-like reaction, she added "that if mice and humans respond in a similar manner to diaper emissions, disposable diapers could be important with respect to the worldwide asthma epidemic.''

    In contrast to the results obtained with disposables, new cloth diapers produced very little respiratory effects and appeared to be the least toxic choice for a consumer, the researchers write.

    "Though the disposable effect was noted even when the emissions of a single diaper are diluted in the air of a small room,'' Anderson said, she cautions that it is too early to indict diaper chemicals.  "Whether the diaper chemicals initiate clinical disease, simply trigger an asthma-like response or are not implicated (at all) in human disease will not be known until after a vast amount of human data has been accumulated,'' she commented.

    Therefore, Anderson believes that formal epidemiological investigations must be extended to infant products in order to evaluate these items' possible role in triggering or aggravating asthmatic conditions.  She and her co-author, Dr. Julius Anderson, have (previously) published similar findings associated with other products used in infants' environments.  "A number of these manufactured materials -- air fresheners, mattress covers, fabric softeners -- have many rapid-onset toxic effects in common,'' she pointed out.

    In Anderson's view, the current epidemic in childhood asthma cannot be explained solely on the basis of what she termed, ''the usual suspects: dust mites, cockroaches, maternal smoking".  Maybe child-care products (such as) plastic diapers... plastic baby bottles, and plastic toys are important factors (through the release of) chemicals with toxic effects.''

    Until such time as this asthma-inducing effect can be confirmed in humans, Anderson reminds parents and healthcare professionals that precaution costs nothing.  When you are dealing with a toxic chemical or chemicals, avoidance is the only proper action.  ''She suggests that (parents) and doctors... believe themselves if they think a product is harming the breathing of the mother or the baby.''

SOURCE: Archives of Environmental Medicine September/October 1999.