A Diaper Shortage?! Of All the things...!

As so often happens, moms are left to deal with the mess.

An explosion at a Japanese chemical plant this weekend has the spectre of a global diaper shortage.

The plant in the coastal city of Himeji, operated by Nippon Shokubai Co., is one of the world's largest producers of acrylic acid, a primary ingredient used in disposable diapers.

Powerful blasts rocked the facility Saturday, as firefighters were trying to control a blaze at one of the tanks containing the chemical. One firefighter died and 34 employees and first responders were injured in the blast.

Acrylic acid is a key component of superabsorbent polymers or SAP, which absorb large amounts of liquid. Nippon Shokubai makes roughly 20 percent of the world's SAP and maintains a 10 percent global market share of acrylic acid. The plant had been ramping up production to meet increasing global demand, especially from China, according to Japanese media reports.

Prior to the accident, the plant in the Hyogo Prefecture manufactured 460,000 tons of acrylic acid annually, supplying clients like Procter and Gamble, which relied on Nippon Shokubai for products it sold in Asia.

Roughly 4 million tons of acrylic acid are produced in the world, with the largest manufacturers in Germany and the U.S., according to Nippon Shokubai spokesman Akira Kurusu.

Kurusu said the company had already reached out to other producers to make sure their clients' needs are met, but said he could not comment on whether the plant closure in Japan would affect global costs and supply.

       -Compliments of ABC News on Yahoo.

Who would have ever expected such a thing?..Diapers, they're so convenient, so always in-stock..filling shelf after shelf at all of the stores...maybe to some people this is no big deal, but to moms who know how much they make the battle of daily life a little bit more convenient, a little bit more easy..it is. Sometimes it takes something like this, to make us realize that maybe we take everyday things in life a little bit for granted, simple things that we use at our leisure...but if you think about it, contemplate how much harder motherhood would be without an abundance of diapers, pacifiers, teething rings, baby wipes...and for those who aren't parents...what if you didn't have a supply of toilet paper, or soap...little things that we use everyday and never think about not having them....we have gotten to used to having things at our leisure, and if we run out, we make a run to the store and buy some more, no big deal.

       What if we couldn't do that? What if we went to get some more..and there was none? What if, when they finally had more, there was so little in supply that the price of what we needed doubled..maybe even tripled? We have become so adjusted, so comfortable to the things that we have never been without, that we probably wouldn't know what to do without them. Lets keep our fingers crossed, that the price of diapers doesn't go up, and that the supply can keep up with the demand of the amount of people who need them. Lets be grateful for the things in life that we always have enough of, and maybe not complain about the price of something if it's a little high..because it could always be a little higher. Lets be grateful for the people who work hard to give us all of these things, they don't just come out of thin air, someone works hard so that we can have the things that we need. In the mean time, Mommys get to the store and stock up on an abundance of diapers now!! Nothing is worse than an uncovered, free baby butt!! Ohhhh Mommy Hood :)