Is the new standards for mattress good or bad?
While the federal government pushes through with its new mandate for mattress safety standards effective July 1, there are those that say the safety precautions set may actually be more dangerous. The chemicals to achieve a flame-proof mattress are said to cause more harm than good, ten years down the line. Below are the points People for Cleaner Beds Org have made regarding this:
The chemicals used to flameproof mattresses have never been studied for human exposure risk in this application. (Except now the CPSC has released a limited study.) We know almost all the chemicals to flameproof mattresses are acutely toxic and many also cause cancer. The science of Toxicology uses high-dose short-term exposure on various animals to predict the effect of low-dose long-term exposure on humans. This is exactly the risk in mattresses, close chronic exposure eight hour per day for the rest of our and our children’s lives. The developing fetus and young child is particularly vulnerable to certain environmental toxins. Over the past three decades, researchers have found that remarkably low-level exposures to these toxins are linked with less overt symptoms of toxicity—intellectual impairments, behavioral problems, spontaneous abortions, or preterm births. Antimony Trioxide is the most commonly used flame retardant in mattresses to meet the new law. Antimony is a heavy metal like Lead with similar toxic effects. Antimony is proven to leach from mattresses and linked to heart damage, cancer, and SIDS. Boric Acid, also a roach killer, is commonly used as a flame retardant in mattresses to meet the new law. It is known to attack the developing fetus and testicles as it primary targets. In addition to death, birth defects, infertility, and sterility, studies show overexposure reduces sexual activity in humans. Children could be poisoned from sucking on a Boric Acid mattress. There are 6,463 cases of Boric Acid Poisoning in the US each year. Formaldehyde, Bromine, and other dangerous chemicals are also used in many systems. It is difficult if not impossible to find the truth. Even mattress manufacturers usually don’t know which chemicals are present in their flame barrier systems. We can’t find any, but even if safe systems exist, all mattresses must be safe or we will eventually harm or kill a percentage of our people. If 33% prove toxic, 100 Million people are harmed. If only 1% prove toxic, it is still 3 Million people harmed or killed. We should learn from our toxic legacies of the past. We have made previous mistakes with flame retardants such as PCB’s banned in the 70’s, Tris, Asbestos, and now PBDE’s are being found in peoples bodies and women’s breast milk in alarming and growing amounts. The chemical industry estimates we save up to 960 people per year with the 1.2 Billion pounds of flame retardants the US uses annually. Now we will be required to sleep in them too. We have already killed 300,000 people, and continue to kill 10,000 annually, with Asbestos alone. Consumers will be forced to pay an average of $100 more for every new mattress purchased to meet this law. The innerspring mattress industry through their trade association ISPA went to the CPSC and asked for this law. It seems clear it benefits the large companies by restraining competition, forcing the smaller companies out of business, and raising prices, revenue, and profits. Even the man who started and wrote this law in California, Whitney Davis, is now having second thoughts: “The Problem: the only chemicals they can use to achieve compliance are listed as toxic to humans by the EPA.” and “You don’t know until 10 years down the road and there’s a problem,” he said. “We feel responsible.”
Tags: MATTRESS News, MATTRESS Safety, MATTRESS Shopping, mattress-chemicals, mattress-toxins, mattresses, mattress_cancerous
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June 24th, 2007 at 9:21 pm
Is this information useful?
Quote: Fire Retard KK is a highly effective semi-durable organic flame retardant. It is nontoxic, not hygroscopic, rust inhibiting and will not cause color change with most dyestuffs.
http://www.manufacturerschemicals.com/Fire%20Retard%20KK.htm
November 20th, 2007 at 12:35 pm
Where are all the consumers who have recently purchased these higher flammibility std mattresses?? As more and more people buy them and realize what they are getting, will the CPSC be forced to reconsider these standards. Safety in the bedroom should begin with common-sense safety practices… you can’t protect everybody especially imbeciles who either smoke in bed or burn candles close to bedding. Smoke detectors in all bedrooms linked together make a lot more sense. Meanwhile what do we do?
February 7th, 2008 at 12:31 pm
[...] by law. For mattress to be fire-safe, it has to have this chemical in it. However, there are studies showing that boric causes bigger health problems. White Lotus explains it all here. borate, flame [...]