Diapers Q&A

Are disposable diapers contaminating our water sources since that sewage is not treated?

Public Comments

1. probably not because trash just gets melted/burned in dumps
2. Ummmm- I don't know about you, but where I live, they go into a landfill. That is similar to a septic system, and the water filters through a ba-jillion molecules of dirt before re-entering the eco-system.
3. Disposable Diapers For every baby diapered with single-use diapers for a 2 1/2 year period, over 2 tons of waste is generated. Disposable diapers make up the 3rd largest single consumer item in our waste system – following newspapers and beverage containers. They account for nearly 4% of the total amount of solid waste, and 30% of the non-biodegradable waste. It takes 500 years for one disposable diaper to decompose. Yes, while a cloth diaper, if it is ever thrown away, will become one with the earth within 6 months, a disposable diaper will just sit there and do what it was made to do: absorb. Ever seen a disposable diaper get wet? A child’s disposable diapers sit in a landfill and continue to swell and absorb water, water her family could have used to launder her cloth diapers, if they would have chosen them! Manufacturers of disposable diapers have done some research into recycling and composting, but they have made little headway, as it would be extremely expensive and not widely available. A few cities around the nation have incinerators that burn their garbage and turn it into energy. But with this option one must consider the air pollution from burning all those chemicals in the diapers – not to mention the poop and pee! Landfills are better constructed now, in the U.S. and other developed countries anyway. They leak less than they used to and are generally capped to cover their garbage. But pathogens such as the polio virus (from recently vaccinated children) have been found in landfill sites. Although they may only live for a couple of weeks, these pathogens could potentially be spread elsewhere by birds, rodents and insects. Pollutants from landfills can also seep out into nearby groundwaters.
4. As many disposable diapers that are used every day and saturated with human waste and then thrown into our landfills I don't see how it cannot be a problem. For one, those diapers takes literally decades to decay into nothing and the human wastes filter down through the layers of trash and into the ground. Landfills are already, in most areas, required to have a liner in the bottom to keep liquid waste contained in order to keep it from filtering down. Not only human waste but other liquid chemicals that get thrown away improperly. If that liner leaks then all those chemicals and waste can get into our drinking water systems. . . . yummy! That is why I won't wear disposable diapers. I'm incontinent and have to wear diapers 24 / 7 and I use cloth so that I am not a part of this problem. It's bad enough to have to wear them without also contributing to another major problem. I hope everyone that uses diapers, either for themselves or their babies that they think seriously about this. What would it be like if you just started to pile those diapers up in your own back yard. How long do you think it would take to build a mountain of used diapers? Would you want that sitting there until your child is old enough to add his children's diapers to the pile? Would you want that smell and all that waste filtering down into the ground in your back yard? Well that's what we do in landfills, we put that trash in someone else's back yard. Good luck.
5. it's very likely