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This was interesting, thanks!
 
I did some research, and my biggest concern is that some sources suggest the polymers aren't biodegradable, while others say they are. Probably depends on which diapers you buy but who knows. I also read that they don't release the water fast enough to support fruiting plants, but I couldn't find any good experiments on the subject, and, given the amount of waste created by taking a diaper apart, I don't think I'd want to try it myself.
 
Plus you can buy a similar product for $9 for 340 grams on Amazon. A diaper costs 30 cents and you get about 15 grams of acrylic out of it (as far as research goes). Might be an interesting product to play with as a hydroponic medium though.
 
I am not entirely sure that all of the major superabsorbant polymers degrades safely. But I do know that some are used as soil additives in agriculture, just to increase water retention capabilities.
 
That's what concerns me. Apparently there are a different types and some are biodegradable and some aren't. And it's a regulatory gray area. I'd figure with houseplants it's not a huge issue, as long as you're not repotting constantly, but there are so many "ideal" soil mixes that don't require the use of SAPs it seems a little pointless. And wasteful, given how much extra plastic is in a disposable diaper.
 
According to the original youtube page the video author hasn't even tested it that thoroughly himself. So who knows.
 
I have personally worked with polyacrylamide in labs. Did a (very) shallow research on its use in agriculture. 
 
To put it short, It's somewhat important to use a hyper absorbant polymer ment for soil conditioning.
 
Main points:
The polyacrylamide (PAM) must have been purified well for precursers (acrylamide [AMD])
The polyacrylamide must be in its anionic form, as the neutral and cationic species have a higher toxicity.
polyacrylamide in anionic form is very little toxic to humans.
There MIGHT be issues with PAM degrading into AMD, but studies on the subject has not observed this.
 
"PAM does not revert to AMD on degradation (MacWilliams, 1978). Furthermore, AMD is easily metabolized by microorganisms in soil and biologically active waters, with a half-life in tens of hours (Lande et al., 1979; Shanker et al., 1990). Bologna et al. (1999) and Barvenik et al. (1996) showed that AMD is not absorbed by plant tissues and apparently breaks down rapidly when exposed to living plant tissue."
 
Source: http://eprints.nwisrl.ars.usda.gov/43/1/1196.pdf
 
 
So PAM used correctly should be of no danger when used as a soil conditioner.
 
I havn't researched much what polymer is typically used in diapers, but a quick googling yielded that is is some derivative of PAM. Most likely anionic PAM, as it is generally safer.
 
"While nonionic and especially cationic PAM formulations pose some risk to aquatic organisms at low concentration (Biesinger and Stokes, 1986; Hamilton et al., 1994), the anionic formulations do not. "
 
Even more interesting, thank you for the information. It's hard to find much out there! The stuff in the diapers I've been buying is labeled "polyacrylic" but I have no idea if this is standard.
 
I've read using any of that stuff is bad news.
Doesn't make much difference if you are using good soil.
 
The stuff is ok if you water regularly.
Once the stuff starts to dry out it tries to collect water from the soil.
It's supposed to actually suck the plants roots dry eventually.
 
After all,the stuff is designed to suck up water water.
I'd guess if it has a better ability to suck up water water than roots do.Your plant is screwed.
 
If what I read is true,I'd think watering a good soil mix would be the same as using that stuff.
Also I wonder if it sucks up nutes so eventually you have a bunch of that stuff burning the roots because you can't just wash out the soil anymore.
The gel saves as much liquid as it can...
 
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