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Ditching Disposables
Will Cloth Diapers Work for You?
By Gwen Morrison
to see a detailed expense comparison between several different types of cloth diaper systems and disposable diapers.
Maybe the most important benefit of using cloth diapers is that it may in fact lower the risk of asthma in your child. Childhood respiratory problems, including asthma, may be linked to inhaling the mixture of chemicals emitted from disposable diapers, researchers write about a study in the Archives of Environmental Health. According to Dr. Rosalind C. Anderson of Anderson Laboratories in West Hartford, Vt., lead author of the report titled "Acute Respiratory Effects of Diaper Emissions," chemical emissions of some disposable diapers have immediate health effects in animals breathing the diluted chemical mixtures.
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.
"We've chosen cloth for a number of reasons," says Rebecca Perron, an expectant mother from Randolph, Mass. "Disposable diapers make such a huge impact on the environment. I remember when my half-sister was born, her pediatrician told us about a whale watch/environmental vacation that he and his wife went on where they found a baby humpback whale that had suffocated to death on a disposable diaper. That little tidbit has really stuck with me."
Perron says that in addition to the environmental reasons, she also worries about the effects of wrapping processed materials around the highly sensitive areas of her baby's skin.
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