US 3920015 A
A diaper treated with a hydroxamic acid in an amount sufficient to inhibit the decomposition of urea to ammonia when wetted with urine.
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Description (OCR text may contain errors)
United States Patent 1191 Wortham 1 1 DIAPER RESISTANT TO AMMONIA ODOR FORMATION  Inventor: Joseph S. Wortham, Lake City, Fla.
 Assignee: Allied Chemical Corporation, New
122 Filed: Oct. 3, 1974 21 Appl, No.: 511,890
Related US. Application Data  Division of Ser. No. 288,469, Sept. 12, 1972, Pat. No. 3,843,701, and a continuation-in-part of Ser. No. 47,904, June 19, 1970, abandoned.
 US. Cl. 128/284; 128/287  Int. Cl. A61F 13/16; CO7F 5/06  Field of Search 128/284, 287, 290 R;
 References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,837,462 6/1958 Morin 128/290 R Nov. 18, 1975 3,427,316 2/1969 Wakeman et al. 128/284 X 3,707.148 12/1972 Bryce 128/284 3,843,701 10/1974 Wortham 260/448 R OTHER PUBLICATIONS Kobashi et a1., Biochem. Biophys. acta, 65: 380-383 (1962) Specific Inhibition of Urease by Hydroxamic Acids. Fisboin et al., Nature 208: 4648, Oct. 2, 1965 Acetohydroxamate. Bacterial Urease Inhibitor With Therapeutic PotentiaL. Kobashi et a1. Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 23(1): 3438 (1966) Evidence for the Formation of an Inactive Urease I-Iydroxamic Acid Complex.
Primary Examiner-Aldrich F; Medbery Attorney, Agent, or Firm-J. P. Friedenson ABSTRACT A diaper treated with a hydroxamic acid in an amount sufficient to inhibit the decomposition of urea to ammonia when wetted with urine.
37 Claims, No Drawings decomposition of the urea. 7
- The general approach heretofore has been to use a bactericide, sufficiently potent and in sufficiently large 1 quantities to act on the bacteria and inhibit their ability DIAPER RESISTANT TO AMMONIA ODOR FORMATION CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS This is a division of application Ser. No. 288,469, filed Sept. 12, 1972, and now US. Pat. No. 3,843,70l, and also a continuation-in-part of the co-pending application in the name of the same inventor, Ser. No. 47,904, filed June I9, 1970 now abandoned, and entitled Odor-Inhibiting Composition and Method.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. FIELD OF THE INVENTION 1 This invention relates to a diaper which is resistant to ammonia formation when wet with urine,thereby eliminating a cause ofdiaper rash, and the unpleasant odor of ammonia associated with the decomposition of urea.
2. DESCRIPTION OF THE PRIOR ART Diaper rash is a. common form of irritation and inflammation of the epidermal surfaces of an infants body normally covered by a diaper.. When a diaper is wet with urine,.the urea contained in the fluid is not generally considered irritating, but as the urea decomposes due to the action of bacteria, ammonia is produced as a product of the decomposition. The ammonia, and the alkaline ammonium hydroxide areirritating to an infants tender skin, which then becomes very susceptible to infection. Furthermore, the ammonia is the primary contributor to the unpleasant odor which develops when wet diapers are permitted to stand or are temporarily stored.
Heretofore, the general approach has been to employ germicides to destroy thebacteria responsible for the decomposition of the urea, but frequently the cure is almost as irritating as the ammonia it is meant to eliminate. Furthermore, the volume of urine is usually so great as to render safe quantities of germicides relatively ineffective. Furthermore, the destruction of the bacteria is not necessarily the best approacl'u for .their ability to decompose organic waste matter serves a useful purpose in the ecological' balance.
Until recent yearsit was assumed that the bacteria production of the enzyme urease by the bacteria, and that it is ultimately the enzyme which brings about the to produce the enzyme.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION I have now discovered that a diaper can be rendered resistant to ammonia odor formation, when wet with urine, by the incorporation of a'small amount of a hydroxamic acid, insufficient to be effective as a bactericide, and of such trace amount as to have no harmful effect on the skin of an infant to which the diaper is apcomprises a urine-absorbent material containing atleast one hydroxamic acid or salt of the acid, in an 2 amount sufficient to inhibit the decomposition of urea to ammonia when wetted with urine. The preferred hydroxamic acids are those having the formula Accordingly, R in the above formula may be any compatible organic radical, preferably containing 1 to 19 carbon atoms, desirably 2 to 10 carbon atoms. The preferred radicals are aliphatic hydrocarbon radicals both substituted and unsubstituted, and cyclic hydrocarbon radicals, both substituted and unsubstituted.
The large number of hydroxamic acid compounds listed under Description Of The Preferred Embodiment are illustrative of the wide range of different organic radicals which may be combined with the above hydroxamic acid group.
Although very small quantities of these urease inhibiting compounds are effective and preferred, large quantities can be used if desired, but little benefit is gained thereby, for an important advantage of the method of the present invention lies in its economy. Since the hydroxamic acids may be applied to the diaper in substantially trace amounts, by very simple means, the method of the present disclosure provides an extremely low cost, yet highly effective operation.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT The present invention is directed to a diaper produced from natural materials such as cotton or paper (cellulosic), or from synthetics such as nylon or polyester, containing a small amount, preferably between 0.005 and 0.00002 grams of at least one hydroxamic acid or salt thereof. Among the applicable hydroxamic acid compounds are aceto-, propiono-, butyro-, capro-,
ro-', and nicotinohydroxamic acids, and the Al, Zn, Sn,
Ca, Na, K and Mg salts of any of these.
The selected active hydroxamic acid compound can be applied to the diaper with a carrier such as water, or together with one or more carriers such as finely divvided powders, water-soluble solids and volatile solvents or fluids which have no untoward effect on the skin of an infant wearing the diaper, yet are compatible with the hydroxamic acid compound being applied. Among the many carriers which may be employed either singly or in combination, for applying the active hydroxamic acid compound to the diaper, are water,
starches, powdered talc, zinc stearate, water-soluble salts, ethanol, dioxane, formamide, glycerine cyclohexanol and a water-, oiland stainrepellent composition comprising an aqueous emulsion containing a copolymer of fluoroisopropoxybutyl methacrylate and N- imcthylolacrylamide blended with 2-ethylhexamethacrylatc. The number of suitable carriers is very considerablc but water is the preferred carrier or solvent.
There are many different ways in which the hydroxamic acid compound and its carrier may be applied to the diaper. Preferably. the compound is applied as an aqueous solution in an amount sufficient to leave deposited on the diaper, between 0.005 and 0.00002 gram of the inhibiting hydroxamic acid compound. It may be applied to the dry diaper or to the damp diaper after laundering. It may be applied as a solution or as a spray. it may be applied in the final rinse of a wash cycle, or it may be incorporated into a softening agent for application to the diaper before drying. It may also be applied as a powder. preferably containing 0.01 to 2.0 grams per l000 grams of composition, or as a solution, when removing previously soiled diapers. It may be applied as an ingredient in a final wash phase in the laundering of the diapers, as a surface-applied spray, as a compact, water-soluble tablet containing 0.01 to 2.0 grams of inhibitor per l000 grams of composition for a final diaper rinse, or for diaper pails. When produced as a tablet, it may be formulated with a variety of watersoluble substances such as sodium sulfate, sodium carbonate, soap, detergents and soluble organic compounds such as malic acid. The inhibitor may also be applied as a surface coating for diapers, particularly of the disposable paper variety.
A convenient method of applying the inhibitor is by wetting the absorbent material with a composition consisting substantially of an aqueous solution of the hydroxamic acid compound containing about 0.005 to 2.0 grams of the compound per liter of water. If desired, the hydroxamic acid solution may be dried on the absorbent material, but this is not essential to the invention.
With one embodiment of the invention, the hydroxamic acid solution is adjusted to a pH of about 7 by the addition of an alkaline pH modifying substance.
EXAMPLE 1 A series of tests were run to illustrate the inhibiting effect of several different hydroxamic acids, using the following procedure:
Birdseye" cotton diapers (Riegel Textile Corp), and Pampers disposable diapers (Proctor and Gamble), each previously uniformly sprayed with an aqueous solution of a different one of the several hydroxamic acids listed in Table l below, and dried, according to the method of the present invention, were used in this test series.
A section of each diaper was taken, having an area selected to contain 0.00008 grams of the hydroxamic acid. The section generally varied between about 4 X 4 inches and 6 X 6 inches depending on the amount ofinhibitor initially deposited on the diaper. Each section of diaper was placed in a 125cc Erlenmeyer flask. To each flask was added 24.9 ml of urine together with 0.l ml of a solution of urease. The mouth of the flask was then sealed with wax paper, and incubated for 3 hours in a water bath at 37C (body temperature). The urease solution referred to above is a commercially available extract of urease with glycerol, obtainable from the Harleco Co. of Philadelphia.
A control flask was prepared and similarly treated with the exception that a section of diaper was used having an area comparable to that employed in the tests, but containing no hydroxamic acid inhibitor.
An aliquot portion of the contents of each flask was taken and analyzed for ammonia, the product of the action of the urease on the urea content of the urine. There are a variety of procedures for determining the ammonia, but the method here applied was that of Beecher and Whitten, Analy. Biochem. 36, 253, 1970).
An alternate analytical method was frequently applied as a check. in applying this test method, the quantity of urea originally present was determined, and compared with that remaining undecomposed at the end of the incubation period. The procedure used was the Method for Determination of Urea, given by H. L. Rosenthal, Analy. Chem. 27, p. 1980, (1957).
This test was more time consuming than that for ammonia, but considered more precise since it was not subject to variations which might result from losses of ammonia. No significant losses were noted, hence, the method of Beecher and Whitten was found consistently reliable when checked against the method of Rosenthal.
In the tabulation to follow, the inhibitor tested as described above is given, followed by the micrograms of ammonia per ml found by analysis. The FIGURE given is generally the average of several individual determinations. Finally, the percent inhibition is given.
A micrograms of ammonia (NH per ml found in control containing no inhibitor, less the small amount of NH normally found in the urine sample per ml, and B micrograms of NH per ml found in test flask containing the inhibitor being evaluated, less the small amount of NH normally found in the urine sample per ml.
Even in concentrations this low, where the amount of inhibitor used is only 3.2 X 10 grams per ml of urine, the enzymatic action of the urease is inhibited to a considerable degree, as is evident in the following table:
TABLE I Inhibiting Effect of Various Hydroxamic Acids Incubation Period. 3 hours at 37C.
Micrograms '7( Inhibitor NH;,/ml urine Inhibition Control 1.470 0 Hcptylohydroxamic acid 955 35 Octanohydroxamic acid 882 40 Cinnamohydroxamic acid 807 45 Caprohydroxamic acid 837 43 Among the many other hydroxamic acids exhibiting an inhibiting effect on the enzyme urease, are butyro-, benzo-, phenylaceto-, and nicotino-hydroxamic acids.
EXAMPLE 2 No. 3, which was first rubbed against the anal area.
24 ml of urine were now added to all five flasks. To flask No. 4 was added 0.4. ml of a solution of 0.02 gram of cinnamohydroxamic acid made up to 100 ml, and to flask No. 5, 0.8 ml of the same solution, thus flask No. 4 contained 8 X grams of cinnamohydroxamic acid and flask No. 5, 1.6 X l0 grams.
Next, a 0.1 ml portion of the urease solution as defined in Example 1 was added to flasks No. l, 4 and 5. All flasks were then made up to ml, sealed with wax paper and incubated for 3 hours at 37C. An aliquot portion of the contents of each flask was taken and tested for ammonia by the procedure given in Example I. The results are tabulated in Table II below:
TABLE II 5 Grams of cinnamohydroxamic acid were dissolved in ml of ethanol, and the stoichiometric amount of aluminum acetate was dissolved in ml of water. The two solutions were mixed with stirring, and the white precipitate formed, was filtered off and washed with a small amount of cold water. The white product was dried under vacuum at room temperature.
Although quite pure, the product may be further pu- Inhibiting Effect of cinnamohydroxamic Acid Incubation Period. 3 Hours at 37C.
In flask No. l as expected, the uninhibitedurease decomposed the urea in the urine. Flask No. 2 dramatically demonstrates that when urease is absent, there is substantially no decomposition of the urea content of the urine even though there is no inhibitor present, and the urine has been incubated. This is in contrast with flask No. 3 which, like flask N0. 2, contained neither inhibitor nor urease. There was no evidence of inhibition of the decomposition of urea in the case of flask No. 3 at all, yet the only difference was that the pad insert was not sterile. The probable answer is that the bacteria introduced with the contaminated pad produced the enzyme urease, just as they ordinarily do in the case of a wetted diaperfSince there was no inhibitor present, the urease produced in situ brought about the decomposition of the urea. Since urine is normally sterile, and the other additives in the test were substantially aseptic, the bacterium count was insufficient to produce an appreciable quantity of the enzyme.
Flask No. 4 containing both urease and 8 X 10 grams of inhibitor, shows 41% inhibition whereas flask No. 5, wherein the quantity of inhibitor has been doubled, shows 73% inhibitionf Doubling the quantity of the inhibitor in this instance resulted in an improvement of about 78%.
EXAMPLE 3 Various salts of several different hydroxamic acids were prepared as urease inhibitors for use in the examplc to follow. The method of preparing these salts follows thepattern here given for the preparation of the aluminum salt of cinnamohydroxamic acid.
' rified by dissolving it in 50 cc of water acidified to pH 2.0 with HCl, filtering, reprecipitating, filtering off the precipitate, washing with cold water and drying under vacuum at room temperature.
A series of tests were run on cinnamohydroxamic acid, benzohydroxamic acid and on a number of salts of these two acids, using the following'procedure:
A 24 ml quantity of urine was placed in each of several 50 ml Erlenmeyer flasks, together with 0.4 ml of a solution of 0.02 gram of the selected acid made up to 100 ml with water, or of the acid salt made up to 100 ml with water acidified to pH 1 to 2 with HCl. An 0.1 ml portion of the urease solution, previously defined, was
added to each mixture which was then brought to 25cc with water. The mouths of the flasks were sealed with wax paper, and the contents incubated in a constant temperature water bath for 3 hours at 37c. Control flasks were prepared and similarly treated. These were identical in all respects, except that they did not contain inhibitor. An aliquot of each solution was taken and analyzed for-ammonia as in Examples 1 and 2. The results are tabulated below in Table III:
TABLE 111 lnhibiting Effect of Various Hydroxamic Acid Salts. Incubation Period. 3 hours at 37C. Inhibitor 8.0 10 grams/ ml. urine.
It will be noted from above that generally speaking, with the possible exception of the salts of the alkali metals, the metallic salts are superior to the acids as urease inhibitors. It will also be noted that there is con siderable variation in the effectiveness of the salts, with the aluminum salt of cinnamohydroxamic acid and the magnesium salt of benzohydroxamic acid being particularly outstandingv The calcium salts of both acids, it will also be noted. are high on the list of effective urease inhibitors.
EXAMPLE 5 A series of tests were run in the presence ofa variety of solvents to determine the effect of the solvents on the inhibiting action of cinnamohydroxamic acid. The purpose of these tests was to determine whether the acid could be applied to the diaper as a solution in such solvents without detriment to its inhibiting action. Each test consisted of 23 ml of urine in a 50 cc Erlenmeyer, 0.1 ml urease solution as previously defined, 1.6 X 10 gr. cinnamohydroxamic acid, and 1.0 ml of the indicated solvent, with the mixture being made up to 25 ml with water. The cinnamohydroxamic acid concentration was identical in all tests. As before, the flasks were sealed with wax paper and incubated at 37C for 3 hoursv An aliquot portion was analyzed for urea according to the Rosenthal method of Example 1. A control was also prepared and treated in an identical manner, with the exception that it contained neither a solvent nor the cinnamohydroxamic acid inhibitor. The results are given below in Table IV:
TABLE IV Effects of Various Solvents on the Urease Inhibiting Effect of cinnamohydroxamic Acid It will be noted that although some organic solvents tend to reduce the effectiveness of the inhibitor, they may if desired. be used without serious detriment. Wa-
ter, and the aqueous emulsion of an acrylic stain repellent previously defined are outstanding solvents for the application of the inhibitor.
The results tabulated in Table IV appear higher than those given for cinnamohydroxamic acid in Tables I and 11. This improvement in part reflects the larger quantity used. When 1.6 X 10 grams of cinnamohydroxamic acid was used rather than 8 X 10 as in Table l, the percent inhibition jumped from 41% to 73%. Furthermore, the results are affected by various factors, as for example the composition of the urine samples, the incubation period, the quantity of inhibitor used within the defined limits, the solvent used, and the hydroxamic acid compound employed.
The hydroxamic acids, and particularly the metallic salts of many of these acids have a high degree of potency as urease yet are substantially non-toxic; accordingly, very little of these substances need be added to the diapers, to render them resistant to ammonia production. The treatment accordingly is quite inexpensive.
These inhibiting substances are not appreciably volatile, and retain their efficacy for long periods of time. Of prime importance is the fact that these inhibitors minimize the production of diaper rash, and therefore those infections which frequently result from such ammonia induced irritation.
Since certain changes can be made in preparing and applying the compositions of this disclosure without departing from the scope of the invention, it is intended that all matter contained in the above description shall be interpreted as illustrative and not in a limiting sense.
1. A diaper comprising a urine-absorbent material containing a member selected from the group consisting of a hydroxamic acid and a salt of the acid. in an amount sufficient to inhibit the decomposition of urea to ammonia when wetted by urine.
2. A diaper comprising a urine absorbent material containing a member selected from the group consisting of a hydroxamic acid selected from the group consisting of those having the formula wherein R is an organic radical containing 1 to 19 carbon atoms. with the carbon atom of the acid radical formula bonded to a carbon atom of the organic radical, and salts of the acids, in an amount sufficient to inhibit the decomposition of urea to ammonia when wetted by urine.
3. The diaper of claim 2 wherein R has 2 to carbon atoms.
4. The product of claim 1 wherein the hydroxamic acid is selected from the group consisting of aceto-, propiono-, butyro-, amylo-, capro-, heptylo-, octano-, nonylo-, caprino-, undecano-, phenylaceto-, benzo-, salicylo-, cinnamo-, adipo-, stearoand nicotinohydroxamic acid.
5. The product of claim 1 wherein the hydroxamic acid is cinnamohydroxamic acid and the Al-, Zn-, Sn-, Ca-, Na-, K-, and Mgsalts thereof.
6. The product of claim 1 wherein the hydroxamic acid is benzohydroxamic acid and the Al-, Zn-, Sn-, Ca-, Na'-, K- and Mgsalts thereof.
7. The product of claim 1 wherein the amount of a hydroxamic acid in the diaper is insufficient for substantial effectiveness as a bactericide.
8. The product of claim 1 wherein the amount of a hydroxamic acid used in the diaper ranges between about 0.005-to .00002 grams.
. .9. A method of rendering a diaper resistant to ammonia odor formation when wet with urine, which comprises applying to said diaper a member selected from the group consisting of a hydroxamic acid and salts thereof in an amount sufficient to inhibit the decompoent material resistant to ammonia odor formation,
.,from the group consisting of a'hydroxamic acid selected from the group consisting. of those having the tub-mien wherein. is an organic =radical of v l to 19' carbon 1 atoms, with the carbon atom'of the acid radical bonded to a carbon atom of theorganic radical, and salts of the 11. A method of preparing a soiled diaper for reuse and rendering it resistant to ammonia odor formation when wet with urine, which comprises laundering said diaper and applying to the laundered diaper a memberv selected from the group consisting of a hydroxamic acid selected from the group consisting of those having the formula: I
' R-C-NHOH wherein R is an organic radical of 2 to 10 carbon atoms, with the carbon atom of the acid radical bonded 3 to a carbon atom of the organic radical, andsalts of the acid, in an amount sufficient to leave deposited on the 'salicylo-, cinnamo-, adipo-, stearoand nicotino-.
acid is sprayed onto the laundered diapers as a solution.
15. The method of claim 11 wherein the hydroxamic acid is applied to the laundered diapers while they are damp, and thereafter dried.
16. The product of claim 1 wherein the absorbent material is cotton 17. The product of claim 1 wherein the absorbent material is paper.
18. The method of claim 9 wherein the salts are selected from the group consisting of the aluminum, calcium and stannous salts of cinnamohydroxamic acid; and the calcium, magnesium and stannous salts of benzohydroxamic acid.
19. The product of claim 1 wherein the urine-absorbent material contains a member selected from the group consisting of Al-, Zn-, Sn-, Caand Mgsalts of a hydroxamic acid.
20. The product of claim 19 wherein the hydroxamic acid is selected from the group consisting of those having the formula wherein R is an organic radical containing 1 to 19 carbon atoms, with the carbon atom of the acid radical bonded to a carbon atom of the organic radical.
21. The product of claim 20 wherein the hydroxamic acid is selected from the group consisting of aceto-, propiono-, butyro-, amylo-, capro-, heptylo-, octano-, nonylo-, caprino-, undecano-, phenylaceto-, benzo-,
22. The product of claim 21 wherein the hydroxamic acid is cinnamohydroxamic acid.
23. The product of claim 21 wherein the hydroxamic acid is benzohydroxami'c acid. a i 24. The product ofclaim 5 wherein the salt is Al-. 25. The product of claim 5 wherein the salt is Zn-. 26. The product of claim 5 wherein the salt is Sn-. 27. The product of claim 5 wherein the salt is Ca-.
28. The product of claim 5 wherein the salt is Na-. 29. The product of claim 5 wherein the salt is K-. 30. The product of claim 5 wherein the salt is Mg-. 31. The product of claim 6 wherein the salt is Al-. 32. The product of claim 6 wherein the salt is Zn-. 33. The product of claim 6 wherein the salt is Sn-. 34. The product of claim 6 wherein the salt is Ca-. .35. The product of claim 6 wherein the salt is Na-.
36. The product of claim 6 wherein the salt is K-.
37. The product of claim 6 wherein the salt is Mg-.