"Day 4 (April 19th): Real Simple Real Diapers for Babies – Health benefits
If I mentioned the words sodium polyacrylate to you, would you have a clue what I was talking about? Probably not. That’s because it’s not widely used when talking about disposable diapers.
Now, what if I used the words gel beads? You know what that is, right? The gel beads are the polymers that absorbs the moisture in disposable diapers, and they are called sodium polyacrylate.
Remember way back, when the risk of Toxic Shock Syndrome was sky high due to a substance found in the super-absorbent tampons? Sodium polyacrylate is a similar substance! The last thing I want on my baby’s bottom is something that could potentially cause such toxic bacteria to grow!"
For the rest of the story, see here.
2 comments:
Thanks, Cole! :)
This is awfully simplistic. There were multiple problems with the tampons that contributed to the development of toxic shock syndrome. The tampons were able to absorb a lot of liquid which meant women left the blood soaked tampons inside for many, many hours between changes. This allowed bacteria to feed on the blood (not the tampon itself) over time. The tampon was also pressed directly against the sensitive vaginal mucosa, drying it and causing microtears. The combination of fast-growing bacteria (from the blood being kept in the vagina rather than being removed or flowing out) and a way into the bloodstream (via the disrupted vaginal walls) caused TSS.
Urine caught and trapped away from intact skin seems a pretty far cry from grinding old, blood and bacteria soaked fabric into your cracked mucous membranes.
If I told you that pretzels, hominy, lutefisk, and olives are usually made with processes that include lye would you stop eating them because it's the same chemical used in drain cleaner?
There are some decent arguments for the use of cloth diapers. This is not one of them.
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