2003 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary
Performance design of water-absorbing hygiene products under the consideration of environmental impact and its application to environmental education in schools
| Project/Area Number |
14580116
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| Research Category |
Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (C)
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| Allocation Type | Single-year Grants |
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| Section | 一般 |
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| Research Field |
家政学一般(含衣・住環境)
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| Research Institution | Shiga University |
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Principal Investigator |
YOKURA Hiroko Shiga University, Faculty of Education, Associate Prof., 教育学部, 助教授 (50165784)
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| Project Period (FY) |
2002 – 2003
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| Keywords | Hygiene products / Toilet paper / Paper towel / Disposable diaper / Reusable cloth diaper / Hand evaluation / Environmental impact / Frictional property |
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| Research Abstract |
The use of water-absorbing hygiene products, such as disposable diapers, is improving in the personal care market. While these products have superior performance in water absorption, they do increase the level of household waste. The purpose of this study is first, to establish an objective evaluation method in designing comfortable water-absorbing hygiene products while considering the environmental impact of such products. Also, this study aims to increase the level of awareness of consumers of the environmental impact of non bio-degradable products. This study focused on disposable diapers, toilet paper and paper towel as water-absorbing hygiene products.
1) Disposable diapers: the physical properties of the disposable and reusable cloth diapers were compared. The value of surface roughness of cloth diaper was three times higher than that of disposable. The value of rewet of cloth diaper was four times higher then that of disposable. Another surface acid compression properties of cloth diapers ii the dry condition were almost the same range with disposable diapers. The reusable cloth diaper seems to have good had in dry condition, aid it should be used concurrently with disposable diapers.
2) Toilet paper and paper towel : the objective hand evaluations of the toilet paper and paper towel were investigated based on the mechanical and surface properties. The mean deviation of the coefficient of friction (Mlle) was the most important property affecting the subjective hand evaluations of papers. The papers with a small value of MMD were estimated to provide good hand. It seems that the papers made from recycled pulp are likely to have good hand, if their frictional properties ca be decreased. When we examine the questionnaire, young people seems to dislike to bring the handkerchief. This result suggests the necessity of the environmental study in schools.
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