Safe Disposable Diaper Guide

My original introduction to this section read something like, “Sure, we all know we should use cloth diapers, but how realistic is that, especially here in New York City where many of us don’t even have washing machines? Thank God for these biodegradable diapers from Seventh Generation!”

This was back in 2010, and I was using cloth diapers about 25% of the time (and my husband was using them never). After doing the research for this guide, I came away realizing that there really isn’t a truly “green” way to use disposables. So I started putting Felix in non-toxic disposable diapers only at bedtime or for long car rides, and stopped using the Seventh Generation disposables completely.

But I had many relapses before potty training was done, and when my second son, Wolf, was born in 2013, I didn’t even attempt cloth diapers. My excuse: a busy business and two children. Valid? Not really, but at least I used diapers I felt better about (see “The Best Stuff,” below).

2019 Updated Biodegradable Diaper Guide

In 2019, nearly a decade after I first published this guide, I hired Dr. Michael Hopkins, PhD, to revisit the guide and update it with some new brands you’ve been asking about. (Dr. Hopkins also helped with this amazing prenatal vitamin guide.)

Michael’s Research Process

Michael began by studying the existing version of this guide, and then looking at other natural parenting websites and the biodegradable diaper brands they recommend, plus the potential sources of toxins in most disposable diapers.

As a scientist, Dr. Hopkins is well-equipped to read peer-reviewed studies and come away with a deep understanding of the nuances of the potential risks from various diaper materials, from chlorine to SAP to adhesives (more on all this later.)

After deciding on the appropriate criteria for what would make brands Best, Good, Bad, or Okay Stuff, Michael made a many-columned spreadsheet and populated it with the list of diaper brands you guys asked us to review.

For each brand, Michael calculated affordability, studied reviews on diaper performance, and double-checked to make sure that all ingredients and materials lists were accurate from the first version of this guide (in the case of Honest Diapers, for instance, the ingredients changed in 2018).

Michael’s final (and the most time-consuming!) step was contacting diaper manufacturers to find out about phthalates, fragrance, chlorine, latex, and the exact materials in the top-sheet and back-sheet of each diaper.

I asked him to find out if the diapers use bamboo or plastic (and in what ratios), if they use traditional SAP or plant-based fluff, what their adhesives are made of, and what percentage of so-called compostable or biodegradable diapers actually biodegrade.

Once he gathered all of this information, we were able to plunk all 37 reviewed brands into a Best, Good, Okay, Bad or Sneaky Stuff category, which you can review at the bottom of this post.

Your Most Pressing Question: Do even the worst disposables really pose a risk to the baby wearing them? Or is this mostly an environmental issue?

This is the question I am asked more than any other about diapers, so let’s start here. Environmental impact aside, is there a risk to disposables?

The short answer is, yes: diapers can pose a risk to the baby wearing them. Here are our two biggest health concerns with disposable diapers:

1. The phthalates that may be used not only in the plastic components of diapers, but also in the glues, synthetic fragrance, and dyes. In a recent study out of South Korea, four leading diaper brands (as well as several brands of sanitary pads) were shown to all contain varying amounts (and in some cases, very high levels) of phthalates. If you’re a regular reader, you already know how bad phthalates are, and since they directly disrupt hormones, they are definitely not something you want anywhere near your children’s privates! In addition, phthalates proved to be the hardest ingredient to suss out during our investigation. A surprising number of “non-toxic” or “sustainable” diaper brands don’t actually make any claim about phthalates, and you’ll see in our reviews below that we note whether each brand is “phthalate-free.”
2. Allergens and irritants. TBT, parabens, latex, and more are often found in diapers. These will most likely be present in fragrance, lotions, and dyes. While this is the least sensational potential risk (certainly phthalates are a much more exciting enemy), good old-fashioned diaper rash is probably the greatest actual concern for most babies wearing disposable diapers. The best way to avoid diaper rash (or a more serious reaction) is to avoid any disposables with dyes, fragrance, and lotions, and to look for diapers that explicitly state they are free of latex, parabens, and TBT.

My Top Pick for Best Non-Toxic Disposable Diapers

Nest Biodegradable Diapers

From: $51.00 / monthBuy Now

Do We Need to Worry About Bleaching/Dioxins in Diapers?

This is another question I get a lot, and it’s certainly relevant from an environmental perspective. The organochlorines present in the effluent produced by paper mills during the bleaching process are a well-documented environmental pollutant. However, in terms of a danger to the baby, you should know that the level of dioxins present in disposable diapers is:

1. Comparable to that found in cotton (cloth) diapers.
2. Thirty thousand to 2.2 million times lower than the average dietary dioxin exposure resulting from “low level contamination of the food supply.” (From this peer reviewed study using commercially available diapers purchased in and around San Francisco.)

In other words, we are exposed to at least tens of thousands of times more dioxins from the Unites States food supply than the trace levels found in chlorine-bleached diapers. Does that mean you should buy bleached diapers? No, definitely not–the production of those suckers is really bad for the planet. But if the hospital puts your newborn in one, don’t worry; it’s not going to harm her.

Total Chlorine Free (TCF) versus Elemental Chlorine Free (ECF)

If you’ve been educating yourself on non-toxic/biodegradable disposable diapers, you’ve probably heard that ECF diapers are basically Sneaky Stuff and that you MUST buy only TCF diapers.

(Quick primer: ECF means bleached with chlorine dioxide instead of elemental chlorine. TCF means bleached using any chemicals other than chlorine, chlorine dioxide, or hypochlorite.)

We are probably the only “green bloggers” saying this, but the distinction between TCF and ECF is totally not important. Here’s why: as we just said, the use of chlorine in pulp and paper mills is really an environmental issue, not a health and safety issue. Yes, ECF bleached diapers might sometimes still contain trace amounts of dioxins, but we are talking about levels that are several orders of magnitude lower than the levels of dioxins we are all exposed to by simply eating food.

And here’s why it doesn’t even matter from an environmental standpoint: Although the waste products of TCF pulp is technically “cleaner” than ECF pulp, TCF produces a lower yield (it takes more wood pulp and energy to produce the same amount of finished product), effectively cancelling out the benefits over ECF.

Moreover, the environmental impact of ECF versus TCF bleaching depends on the practices and procedures of the individual paper mill and how the waste products are handled. Recent reports have concluded that the theoretical benefits of TCF versus ECF bleaching have not been realized in the real world and that there is no appreciable difference between ECF and TCF. Scratch that one of your worry list!

Non-Toxic Incontinence Diapers

Abri-Form Junior is Abena’s line of non-toxic disposable incontinence diapers, designed specifically to fit those between 5 and 15 years old that suffer from uncontrolled urination.

What Makes a Diaper Good Stuff?

I hope all of this helps you guys understand a little more about what makes a diaper potentially unsafe for a baby and decidedly not friendly to the environment. Still, there are dozens of “green” or “biodegradable” diapers on the market; how can we know which ones to buy?

In order for a disposable diaper to be “Good Stuff,” it must:

1. Be free of artificial fragrance, dyes, and lotions, all of which have the potential to contain irritants/allergens/toxins and simply aren’t necessary in any diaper.
2. Explicitly state that it is free of phthalates, since this cannot be assumed, unfortunately.

These two criteria are the bare essentials if your only concern is the safety and well-being of the diaper user. (But I know you all are better than that!)

Given the significant environmental impact of disposable diapers, a “Best Stuff” diaper also must:

1. Be either Elementally Chlorine Free (ECF) or Totally Chlorine Free (TCF). For the reasons explained above.
2. Be free of petroleum-derived plastics. There are now enough bamboo and other plant-based diapers on the market to eliminate any brand that uses petroleum in its production from the Best Stuff category, even if it poses no real risk to the baby wearing the diaper. This is a happy change from when we last updated this guide four years ago!

Biodegradable Diapers: Do They Exist?

By virtue of using plant-based rather than petroleum-based ingredients, the diapers that we’ve labeled as Best Stuff are inherently compostable or biodegradeable to varying degrees. Some of these brands supplement with a “bio-based SAP” or with cornstarch in the absorbent core to limit the amount of traditional SAP used. The other core component, “fluff,” is wood pulp (cellulose) that undergoes a more traditional bleaching process.

Many people criticize diaper brands that market themselves as “biodegradable” or “compostable” because:

1. Traditional landfills are inherently non-conducive to biodegradation due to an absence of oxygen, soil, and microorganisms.
2. Compostable is only relevant when you have a way to compost where you live (keeping in mind that human feces should not be composted!), and anyone who is planning to compost their diapers will need to make sure they understand how to do this properly.

Michael and I agree that, despite these concerns, there are still valid reasons to choose a “compostable” or “biodegradeable” diaper, including a reduction in use of petroleum on the production end, as well as sending a message to the industry about the demand for more environmentally sustainable consumer products.

Reasons to Switch to Cloth Diapers

Before I tell you which are the very best disposable diapers, here’s why you shouldn’t use any of them, even the ones I can sell you from our online store:

• Conventional plastic diapers contain small amounts of dioxin—a byproduct of the bleaching process. As discussed above, this doesn’t pose a risk to your baby, but it’s really bad for the environment.

• Even if you use non-toxic disposable diapers, you’re probably familiar with the little gel clumps that sometimes stick to your baby’s skin when you wait too long to change her. Known as SAP (Super Absorbent Polymer), some people worry about it because it was linked to toxic shock syndrome when it was in tampons. While I don’t think it causes a health risk to babies, it is not biodegradable, and thus not an earth-friendly choice.

• A Greenpeace study found the hormone-disrupting TBT (tributyl tin) in many diaper brands.

• I know we’re are all bored with the landfill stats, but the fact remains that a disposable diaper can take as long as 500 years to decompose.

• In response to the popular misconception that cloth diapers are just as bad for the environment as disposables (a myth propagated by a study funded by Proctor & Gamble), an independent report found that disposable diapers produce more than 50 times the waste of cloth diapers and use twice as much water and triple the energy.

What About Cloth Diapers with Flushable Liners?

I didn’t use them myself, but tons of readers and friends are devoted to the so-called “hybrid diapers” with the flushable liners.

The Best Stuff

The Good Stuff

The Okay Stuff

The Bad Stuff

The Sneaky Stuff

What About No Diapers at All?

Forgoing diapers all together, or practicing “elimination communication,” is clearly the greenest option of all.

Here is a story that one reader, Gillian, shared with me:

I learned about EC from a very hippie friend and initially I laughed at her. Then when my son was about 3 weeks old, he started giving very obvious cues about when he was going to poo. I would wait for him to finish in his (disposable) diaper, then clean him up. I realized that I could have just as easily put him on the potty. I tried that a few times, but before he could hold his head up it just wasn’t working for us. As soon as he could hold his head up, though, I started putting him on the potty during most diaper changes. I figured, hey – the diaper is off anyway! I was catching some pees and some poos, but there wasn’t much rhyme or reason to it. When he started eating solids he got into a good pattern of pooping every evening, so I just put him on the potty. On average, I now only have to clean one dirty diaper per week, and my longest stretch without a poopy diaper has been 21 days. I am able to catch some pees, but I’m still not great at it. My son is now 8 months old. I love not cleaning dirty diapers!