Diaper industry workshop identifies research needs to minimize environmental impacts

The diaper industry workshop focused on four important issues: public health and safety, recycling, composting, and product life cycle analysis techniques. A majority of participants believed that the health and safety issues related to diapers currently receive more public scrutiny than is warranted. They concluded that there is probably no significant public health and safety problems related specifically to diaper handling, recycling, or disposal in properly operated and constructed landfills. Because diaper disposal is a highly visible public issue, however, more definitive health and safety studies should be conducted on the handling and processing of diapers. This would clearly enable public health officials to define any health and safety issues related to diaper handling and to dispel unwarranted fears about health problems associated with diapers.