Want Grandkids? Don't Use Disposable Diapers

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Study links disposable diapers, male infertility

Pleatic overheats testicles, German doctors conclude

Scripps Howard News Service

Disposable diapers could be the cause of the sharp rise in male infertility over the past 25 years, according to an authoritative scientific study to be published this week. It is thought disposable diapers heat up baby boys' testicls to such a degree it stops them developing normally.

Diapers lined with plastic raise the temperature of the scrotum far above body temperature and can lead to a total breakdown of normal cooling mechanisms, according to the study published in the Archives of Disease in Chilhood. Doctors in Kiel, Germany, started the study after being alarmed at the temperature of the testicles of boys who were brought into the hospital with an infection.

The cells supporting sperm production are laid down in the first two years of life. However, their development and sperm production in later life is very dependent on temperatue. Testicles need to be cooler than the rest of the body, which is why they are external.

Dr. Wolfgang Sippell, professor of pediatrics at the University of Kiel, monitored the scrotal temperature of 48 healthy boys, from birth up to 4 years old, using a tiny thermal probe. His team tested the temperatures when boys wore disposable diapers and when they wore cotton diapers.

The temperature was consistently higher when the disposable diapers were worn. They concluded the insulation properties of the disposable diapers impaired normal cooling mechanisms of the testicles.

The Absorbent Hygiene Products Manufacturers Association, which represents makers of disposable diapers, said the study had dubious methodology. Association spokesman Peter Stephenson said: "There is no evidence to support the assertions made by this study, which would appear to be implausible. The safety of our products is of paramount importance. Disposable diapers are, and remain, safe."

The above is in line with other items I have seen or heard, such as a male's fertility can be significantly lower for several days after soaking in a hot tub or riding a bicycle wearning spandex shorts. I've also heard of males fertility increasing after switching from jockey to boxer shorts.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), September 26, 2000

Answers

Thanks for the good laugh over my morning coffee. Medicine has its share of fruitcakes you know, and this guy is definetly in that category.Stop just a moment and think about it. If you must, run around and test the scrotal temperature of little male infants in June,July and August who are wearing cloth diapers with old-fashioned rubber pants! Any Mom can tell you that little bottoms in rubber pants become quite warm in the Summer. Yet, the baby boomers were all born, weren't we? All the guys who are now in their 50s and 60s wore those wonderful HOT rubber pants over their diapers.....party on and God bless.

-- Lesley (martchas@gateway.net), September 26, 2000.

Yes, but... The Baby Boomers fathers were all raised wearing cotton diapers. I was born in 1946 and as far as I know none of us kids wore plastic pants over cloth diapers. Perhaps it is more social than health-related, but for the most part Baby Boomers aren't having many children. Excluding immigration, the U.S. population growth is near zero.

-- Ken S. in WC TN (scharabo@aol.com), September 26, 2000.

What about very high temps from colds or other sicknesses? It would seem that this , in combination with any diaper, would be enough to render a baby sterile according to this doctor.

-- Rebekah (daniel1@itss.net), September 26, 2000.

No plastic/rubber pants over your diapers? Glad I wasn't your babysitter! Unless women wanted urine all over their houses, they usually used rubber pants over the diapers, later they were called "plastic pants"...Gee, how about those sports fellas who use jock cups, must get pretty sweaty in there. The population statistics in the US show an increase in the birth rate among minority groups and a decline in Caucasians..this reflects the changing cultural make-up of our country..tell me that minority women do not use alot of disposable diapers just like everyone else. Lastly, ALL of the inner- city folks I know use disposable diapers MOST of the time and have since they came into use in the late 60s.....with an average of 9 kids per family, I do not see any decrease in their population from the use of disposable diapers. Some cotton manufacturer probably funded this guys' study.

-- Lesley (martchas@gateway.net), September 26, 2000.

Well, *I* appreciated your post. There has actually been several studies done regarding disposables and reproduction.It has been shown that disposables may reduce or inhibit reproduction in both males and females. I believe it is due to the dioxin that the diapers contain. The diapers use quite a bit of chemicals in their production and these residues remain in the diaper. While plastic pants may too, they are not exposed to the baby's tender areas since the cloth diaper provides a barrier. My question~why even chance it?

-- Tammy S.(AK) (heritage@mtaonline.net), September 26, 2000.


I thought it was all the pot smoking?!?

But seriously, I have read other studies specifically measuring the sperm counts and motility and they linked the 'less aggressive" sperms to pesticides and particularly all of the psuedo estrogens that are prevalent in these pesticides. So as Tammy said, perhaps the dioxin has something to do with it. I don't even own a microscope so I wouldn't know at all!

Maybe someone with rabbits could check this study out over the course of a year?

-- Doreen (animalwaitress@yahoo.com), September 26, 2000.


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