What’s in the Diaper? Presence of Phthalates in Baby Diapers

Title: What’s in the Diaper? Presence of Phthalates in baby diapers
Publication Type: Research Reports
Year of Publication: 2020
Abstract: The study is an attempt to get an overview on the presence of phthalates in diapers in the Indian context. The study has also established that most of the diapers contain phthalates like DEPH and DBP which are well-known endocrine disruptors. The sample TL-D 16 has the highest concentration of DEHP, DBP and total phthalates of 8.2 -302.25 PPM, which is notably higher than the recent published studies by Ishi et al 2015 on DEHP (0.1-0.6 ppm) and DBP (0.1-0.2 ppm) in baby diapers available in Japan and Park et al 2019 of the level of DEHP (0.01-0.06 ppm) and DBP (0.01-0.16 ppm) in diapers in Netherlands. Incidently most of the samples studied in India have high phthalate levels than the available global studies conducted on phthalates in diapers. Therefore the present study raised concerns on the quality of the products available in the Indian market and also the possible unimaginable risks that these products can pose to children. Moreover due to lack of a suitable disposal mechanism in place, diapers mostly end in the landfills or the surrounding open sapces of our neighbourhoods. As the diapers contain high level of phthalates, there is every possibility that these phthalates are being leached out to the surrounding environment and impacting the overall ecosytems including the ground water. And this can pose huge health hazards to the surrounding community as well.