Heather McNamara Real Diaper Association

Transcription

1 Heather McNamara Real Diaper Association

2 Recurring yeast rashes on babies How are the cloth diapers involved? Is yeast living on diapers through washes? Do any types of cloth diapers cause a humid environment in which yeast thrives? Are they involved at all?

3 Child in cloth diapers develops apparent yeast-related rash (raised red, clear outline, possible satellites). Switches to disposables while treating and rash clears up. Puts cloth diapers back on and rash returns. WHY?

4 Strip diapers Bleach diapers Boil diapers Tea tree oil Grapefruit seed extract Vinegar rinse diapers?

5 First, can we confirm that yeast lives in cloth diapers? Then, can we test the efficacy of various diaper treatments / levels to give evidencebased advice to cloth diapering parents?

6 First, we collected experts: San Diego Mycological Society, Dr. Noel Fong, Vice President and Group Leader on Yeast Technologies at Nucelis Dr. Judith Berman, Director of the Berman Lab at the University of Minnesota Department of Genetics, Cell Biology & Development studying Candida albicans Liz Hampton, microbiologist and San Diego Real Diaper Circle member

7 1. "Spike" some used cloth diapers with c. albicans in a marked area of the diaper. 2. Launder them separately in the varying tests (no detergent, regular RDA process, with chlorine bleach, and with other laundry additives). All diapers would come from the same person, be laundered in the same machine, at the same temperature and water quality, and with the same detergent to minimize confounding factors. 3. Test the diapers for remaining c. albicans in the marked areas.

8 **Control Negative Group: Follow RDA s Cloth Diaper Laundering Guide for full load of laundry, including soiled diapers. **We started here to see if we detect Candida in the absence of the additives (if not, the test is not worth doing). Control Positive Group: Follow RDA s Cloth Diaper Laundering Guide for full load of laundry, including soiled diapers. Add 1/8 cup of chlorine bleach, adding to laundry and washing at the appropriate temperature per manufacturer instructions. Selected bleach should list sodium hypochlorite as the active ingredient.

9 Tea Tree Oil Group: Follow RDA s Cloth Diaper Laundering Guide for full load of laundry, including soiled diapers. Add 1 teaspoon of tea tree oil in the wash cycle. Selected tea tree oil should have a maximum of 5% cineole and a 35-40% Terpenin-4-ol Grapefruit Seed Extract Group: Follow RDA s Cloth Diaper Laundering Guide for full load of laundry, including soiled diapers. Add 1 teaspoon of grapefruit seed extract in the wash cycle. Oxy-Clean Group: Follow RDA s Cloth Diaper Laundering Guide for full load of laundry, including soiled diapers. Follow manufacturer instructions for laundry boosting.

10 Alcohol, gloves, lint-free wipes, burner, butane, microwave Inoculation loops Plates with growth media (YEPD or chromagar Candida) Candida albicans Distilled water, apple juice Test diapers Laundry detergent, chlorine bleach, tea tree oil, GSE, OxyClean Washing machine and dryer, stock pot for boiling

11 We obtained candida albicans from Dr. Berman s lab Every few days, we must replate the yeast onto new plates to: Prevent overgrowth Prevent contamination Then we can use the yeast on the experimental diapers

12 Uses heat to discourage other microbial growth

13 Swab 100% cotton prefolds with yeast Machine wash Smear washed diapers onto clean plates Observe growth on plate to see if yeast develops Liz, our microbiologist, overseeing Liam, our high school intern in our bathroom lab

14 Sometimes we applied the yeast to wet or dry diapers directly from the plates they were growing on. Sometimes we applied them in a solution of apple juice-sweetened oatmeal to approximate a fecal medium on which yeast might grow in diapers. We left the diapers in containers to mimic diaper pail conditions. We washed them at various temperatures with and without detergent, sometimes drying and sometimes retesting them right out of the washing machine.

15 No yeast grew on any plates that had been swabbed with cleaned 100% cotton prefold diapers. Why not?

16 Based on those results, we needed to figure out if we were using enough yeast to make it through the dilution expected in the washing machine. Calculated the ratio of yeast to water and tried to play with the dilution levels in test tubes. Place yeast colonies in water, shake, plate Observe growth on plate Here we had no problem growing yeast even further diluted than expected in a washing machine, meaning that the amount of yeast we were using was, in fact, sufficient.

17 Live yeast does not remain on 100% cotton prefolds through a wash cycle. (Note specific language)

18 Fabric matters as we learned in laundry research and while preparing Real Diaper Circle Leader Fabric Binders Polyester suedecloth pocket inner Hemp/cotton blend prefold Microfiber insert

19 This is a snapshot of one of our test spreadsheets to track all the variables in the tests to make our results repeatable.

20 Sometimes reading plates can be difficult. This plate has condensation inside the lid, making it difficult to see the yeast or other microbes growing underneath.

21 The bottom right plate has yeast growth. The top two microbes seem more transparent, more like bacteria, not yeast The bottom left has some other sort of growth, but still not typical of Candida albicans

22

23 Plate on right shows a mix of yeast and bacterial growth. Plate on left shows results after machine-drying same diaper - - no yeast, but still bacteria.

24 Be organized Interpret results and plan next steps as a group Repeat tests Make adjustments

25 There are a number of chemicals and ingredients in food which make this more likely in an infant A woman who is breast feeding is best to follow an anti-yeast diet. Dr. Bruce Semon, Nutrition Institute Candida albicans is naturally occurring, unrelated to diapers. It stays in check against other microbes in your intestinal tract. Nutrition impacts balance of intestinal microbes. Medication impacts balance of intestinal microbes. Because of Candida s natural immune-suppressing nature, getting out-of-balance can promote staying out-of-balance.

26 Candida albicans does not form spores like other yeasts. 60ºC / 140ºF for 2 min is 99.9% lethal for Candida albicans.

27 Donate: realdiapers.org/wishlist Volunteer to run a mini-lab: heatherm@realdiaperassociation.org Thanks to my 5- year-old able lab assistant!