Do diapers cause cancer? (2025)

Apparently, both baby and adult diapers do contain carcinogenic substances in traces.

chamberpot said:

Diapers are know to cause cancer in California

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Cuz that’s California. They put warning labels on everything!

chamberpot said:

Diapers are know to cause cancer in California

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As well as Fender Guitars lol. I'm not from the US, but whenever I see products imported from there, there's always a warning label about it causing cancer in California on it. I've got a feeling they just slap it on everything and call it a day.

ThatDiaperDude said:

As well as Fender Guitars lol. I'm not from the US, but whenever I see products imported from there, there's always a warning label about it causing cancer in California on it. I've got a feeling they just slap it on everything and call it a day.

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lol! That’s why I play a Taylor! And I don’t even live in California

I’m pretty sure the stuff we deposit in diapers is more biohazardous than the stuff already in the diapers…

Anyway, if there is a hazard, it’s probably more about the accumulation in landfills and potential seepage into groundwater, which again is probably more of an issue for fecal matter and other things we throw away, which is why landfills have their own giant rubber “diaper”.

jamiejamie said:

Cuz that’s California. They put warning labels on everything!

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Buying diapers in California is like buying a pack of cigarettes.

LittleJames97 said:

Buying diapers in California is like buying a pack of cigarettes.

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Yep. Safer to buy diapers outside of California!

jamiejamie said:

Cuz that’s California. They put warning labels on everything!

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I'm a Californian and I've never seen a cancer warning label on diapers.

if you were to smoke diapers it

would cause cancer
in all seriousness im guessing its something to do with the SAP inside the diaper ?

Quotes from the abstract:

Baby diapers contained several known or suspected carcinogens, ... the lifetime cancer risk from some diapers approached 1 per million under a worst-case scenario.

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So, if not under the worst-case scenario for the worst of diapers, the risk is lower than 1 in a million.
The probability of being struck by lightning in the U.S. during your lifetime is estimated as 1 in 15300 (source).

Our results show that toxic VOCs were found in all tested disposable diapers and wipes at trace levels,

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Sure they are. According to the description in the paper, they used a gas chromatography–mass spectrometer, which can display the occurence of minuscule amounts. "Trace levels" of stuff are about everywhere to be found and in most cases negligible. Furthermore, those traces are inside the whole products, probably most of them not even on the surface (for instance the glue that holds the diaper together) and don't come into contact with your skin.
Disposable diapers have been used for dozens of years now. If they were a considerable health risk, I guess someone would have noticed in the meantime.

On the other hand, the biggest health risks are well known - lack of exercise, excess calories (both leading to overweight, diabetes, vascular disease), smoking, alcohol. That's where we can lower our health risks the most. Sorry to break it to you, I'm guilty myself.

BigAl3 said:

Even tools have the warning on them.

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The lawyers have infected every aspect of our world. In truth, it is the litigation frenzied population that hire these lawyers. "Objects may be closer than they appear"!

jamiejamie said:

Cuz that’s California. They put warning labels on everything!

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I believe the law as-written was well-intentioned: inform people if a product they are buying or using contain a carcinogen. The problem is, companies can't be bothered to check whether their product actually contains any of the chemicals, so they just slap a warning sticker on even if it doesn't. They'd rather over-label than be given a fine if they missed some component.

https://www.vox.com/the-highlight/2019/10/24/20918131/california-prop-65-toxic-water

This has been discussed before on ADISC: https://www.adisc.org/forum/threads/concerned-about-vocs-in-disposable-diapers.185475/

You can find scientific commentary from @ElPulpo there as well, and I quoted some some relevant sections of the paper.