Toxic Mattresses
When you sleep at night, do you ever wonder what that soft, comfortable mattress is made of? Do you ever wonder why millions of small infant children have gone to sleep never to wake again? The answer to these questions are quite disturbing! Before you close your eyes again, don't turn your eyes away from these disturbing facts!
Did you know that there are actually more chemicals in a conventional mattress today than are contained in a barrel of oil? Yes, that's right, most mattresses are made entirely of petrochemicals! Most people today sleep on mattresses made of synthetic materials like polyurethane, polyester and flame retardant chemicals.* These synthetic materials and the flame retardant chemicals in the mattresses cause us to breathe in toxins all night long, including PBDEs (polyborminated diphenyl ethers), formaldehyde and more.
* A 1973 law required mattresses to not ignite from a burning cigarette, but a new law requires mattresses to not ignite after being exposed to a 12 inch wide flame on the side for 50 seconds, and a simultaneous 10 inch wide flame on the top for 70 seconds.
PBDE, a flame retardant chemical, has actually been banned in Europe because of toxicity. It has been banned in California in 2008, but for now they are letting the mattress manufacturers sell out their stock to the unsuspecting public. PBDE has been shown to cause a vast amount of health problems, including cognitive and behavioral changes during development, thyroid problems, permanent learning and memory impairment, ADHD, higher cancer rates and immune system problems. The chemicals are now found in high levels in mother's breast milk, undoubtedly due to its presence in our mattresses, and so is being ingested by babies, even though it has been shown to be much more toxic for infants and children.
Some other flame retardant chemicals used in mattress production include formaldehyde, antimony trioxide, boric acid (the roach killer) melamine and decabromodiphenyl oxide (a brominated flame retardant also being found in women's breast milk). Formaldehyde has been known to cause headaches, insomnia, fatigue, excessive thirst, respiratory problems and more. Boric acid was found to be very toxic and even caused deaths when used in a 3% diluted solution as a topical solution for diaper rash, now it is used on crib mattresses! Many of these chemicals are known or suspected carcinogens (chemicals that cause cancer). Some cause reproductive, liver, kidney, heart muscle and other damage. The chemicals used in making polyester that is a common mattress material that is possibly carcinogenic and may also damage the kidneys, the heart and the nervous system Also, flame retardant chemicals will keep the mattress from catching fire, however, if there is a fire, poisonous gases such as cyanide and carbon monoxide will be created that you will breathe in if you are near your mattress. So basically, the mattress that is supposed to protect you, is actually harming you!
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome
"Sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), also known as crib death or cot death, is the number one cause of death for infants from onemonth to one year of age. 90% of all SIDS deaths are in babies under six months old. Ongoing SIDS research occasionally leads to discoveries of risk factors associated with these deaths, but after almost 50 years, researchers say they still do not know how or why it happens. The prevailing official viewpoint on SIDS is that the cause is unknown."
Dr. Jim Sprott, OBE, a New Zealand scientist and chemist, states with certainty that crib death is caused by toxic gases, which can be generated from a baby's mattress. Chemical compounds containing phosphorus, arsenic and antimony have been added to mattresses as fire retardants and for other purposes since the early 1950's. A fungus that commonly grows in bedding can interact with these chemicals to create poisonous gases.These heavier-than-air gases are concentrated in a thin layer on the baby's mattress or are diffused away and dissipated into the surrounding atmosphere. If a baby breathes or absorbs a lethal dose of the gases, the central nervous system shuts down, stopping breathing and then heart function. These gases can fatally poison a baby, without waking the sleeping baby and without any struggle by the baby. A normal autopsy would not reveal any sign that the baby was poisoned. In spite of denial and opposition from orthodox SIDS organizations, no research hasdisproved this gaseous poisoning explanation for crib death. No valid criticism of this explanation has ever been provided. This logical finding explains every factor already known about crib death, and is backed by scientific research and 11 years of practical proof consisting of a crib death prevention campaign that continues in New Zealand.
Ongoing research continues to support these findings. A four and a half year study by the Scottish Cot Death Trust published in the British Medical Journal has shown that the re-use of infant mattresses triples the risk of cot death. Dr. Sprott explains that the risk of death increases when mattresses are re-used from one baby to the next because the fungus has already had a chance to establish itself in the used mattress. When the next baby uses the same mattress, the fungus is soon active. Toxic gas production begins sooner and is generated in greater volume. It is known that crib death rates increase markedly from the first baby in a family to the second, and from the second to the third, and so on. Dr. Sprott warns, however, that new mattresses can also be unsafe because fungal growth can quickly become established in a new mattress once a baby begins sleeping on it.
New Zealand Wrapping Campaign
The fundamental solution is urgent action to eliminate all sources of phosphorus, arsenic and antimony from all mattresses. But this is not happening now, and is not likely to happen anytime soon, so exposure to these gases must be prevented. The intervening
solution is to prevent babies from being exposed to the gases by wrapping mattresses in a gas-impermeable cover made from high-grade polyethylene and ensuring that bedding used on top of a wrapped mattress does not contain any phosphorus, arsenic or antimony. A 100% successful crib death prevention campaign has been going on in New Zealand for the past 11 years. Midwives and other healthcare professionals throughout New Zealand have been actively advising parents to wrap mattresses. During this time, there has not been a single SIDS death reported among the over 100,000 New Zealand babies who have slept on mattresses wrapped in a specially formulated polyethylene cover. The number of crib deaths in New Zealand that have occurred before mattresswrapping began in 1994 is about 810. The number of crib deaths that have occurred in New Zealand on a properly wrapped mattress is zero.
In early 2002, a German doctor published the results of the New Zealand mattresswrapping campaign, including statistical analysis carried out in conjunction with the University of Munich. The statistics showed that the proof of the validity of mattress-wrapping for crib death prevention was one billion times the level of proof generally accepted by the medical community as proving a scientific proposition. In other words, statistically speaking, this so called “theory” has been proven a billion times OVER what is necessary! Prior to the commencement of mattress-wrapping, New Zealand had the highest crib death rate in the world (2.1 deaths per 1000 live births). Following the adoption of mattress-wrapping by many parents in New Zealand, the New Zealand crib death rate has fallen by 70%, and the Pakeha (non-Maori) crib death rate has fallen by an estimated 85% (NZMH). Pakeha parents have adopted mattress-wrapping with enthusiasm. "These reductions cannot be attributed to orthodox cot death prevention advice," said Dr Sprott. "There has been no material change in that advice since 1992. The only significant change in cot death prevention advice, which has occurred since 1994, is the nationwide dissemination of my recommendations to wrap babies' mattresses."
Parents Are Denied Findings
So why isn't this profound and critically important information making the headlines of major newspapers or all over the evening news? Why aren't crib death researchers and the government of the United States telling parents to wrap babies' mattresses? Why are the manufacturers still adding fire retardants and other chemicals to mattresses? There are various reasons, but one possible reason is that mattress manufacturers are required to use fire retardants through government regulations. Admitting that these chemicals are causing deaths would mean admitting to major liability. Furthermore, crib death research has been a significant source of funding for medical researchers in the U.S. Crib death research funding has nearly stopped in New Zealand as more people become aware that mattress-wrapping is easy, cheap and 100% successful in preventing this tragedy. Unfortunately, the ongoing complex and expensive research that leads to the discovery of "risk factors" for a so-called "syndrome" has pushed aside the simple and inexpensive solution of mattress-wrapping; a solution that can do no harm. The Cot Death Cover-Up? (Penguin books, NZ, 1996), by Dr. Jim Sprott, reveals the amazing story of denial on the part of crib death researchers and the medical community, and the failure of these entities to accept such a simple explanation.
Dr. Sprott first suggested a toxic gas theory for crib death in 1986, and in 1989 Barry Richardson of Britain, also a consulting chemist acting independently, publicized outstanding research proving the finding. In response, the British government set up expert committees to investigate the findings. One committee published the Turner Report, which recommended the removal of the chemicals from baby mattresses and for babies to be tested for antimony. A second committee published the 1998 Limerick Report, which is frequently cited by SIDS organizations as finding no evidence to substantiate the claim that toxic gases cause crib death. Contrary to this publicity, the Limerick Report did not disprove the theory - in fact, it provides further confirmation of it. The main orthodox crib death prevention recommendation is to put babies to sleep on their backs. We know that babies do still die when sleeping on their backs, although faceup sleeping does reduce the risk. The gases are denser than air and tend to settle in a thin layer directly on top of the mattress, so babies sleeping face-down are more likely to inhale a lethal dose of the gases. The gases are also absorbed through babies' skin, and this is one of the major reasons why face-up sleeping provides only partial protection against crib death.
However, no babies have died sleeping on a properly wrapped mattress. This is crucial information for parents. Eight babies continue to die every night in the United States from SIDS. Parents should be provided with the information so that they are able to decide for themselves whether they want to wait for the SIDS research organizations or the government to endorse mattress-wrapping or to "play it safe" as many parents have done in New Zealand. As Dr. Sprott points out and no one has denied, "All New Zealand crib deaths since mattress-wrapping began in late 1994 have occurred when parents have not wrapped their babies' mattresses. An inexpensive, non-toxic protective cover can surely do no harm."
The assumption that our government agencies do everything they can to protect our children is naive. Indeed, the government has made decisions in the past, although well intentioned at the time, that has had catastrophic health consequences for its citizens. Instead of putting unnecessary hurdles in the way of a harmless and potentially livesaving product, why don't the authorities endorse mattress-wrapping in the U.S. to see if the results achieved in New Zealand could be duplicated here? The score in New
Zealand is now 810 deaths (orthodox crib death prevention advice) to none (mattress-wrapping). With so many more babies born in the U.S. than in New Zealand, the potential to save lives is dramatically greater - thousands every year. Why should even one baby be denied something that could potentially save his or her life?
For More Information On Toxin Free Mattresses Visit:
www.SafeCribBeds.com
References:
Jane Sheppard-PDF Author
Fitzpatrick, M.G. 1998. SIDS and The Toxic Gas Theory (letter), New Zealand Medical
Journal, October 9, 1998.
Kapuste, H. 2002. Giftige Gase im Kinderbett ("Toxic Gases in Infants' Beds"),
Zeitschrift fuer Umweltmedizin No. 44; January-April 2002:18-20
Mitchell, P.R. 2001. Analysis of Official UK Statistics for Cot Deaths and Infant Deaths
by Other Causes, 1996-1999.
New Zealand Ministry of Health (NZMH) Cot Death Statistics.
Richardson, B.A. 1994. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome: A Possible Primary Cause.
Journal of Forensic Science Soc. Jul-Sep; 34(3):199-204.
SIDS Alliance. 2001. www.sidsalliance.org
Sprott, T.J. 2000. Critique of the 1998 UK Limerick Report. www.cotlife2000.com
Sprott, T.J. 1996. The Cot Death Cover-Up? Auckland, New Zealand: Penguin Books.
Sprott, T.J. 2000. Personal communication with an officer of the Ministry of Health.
August 11, 2000.
Sprott, T.J. 2000. Research Which Confirms and Supports the Toxic Gas Theory For Cot
Death
Sprott, T.J. 2003. The Cause of Cot Death and How to Prevent It, Cot Life 2000, March
2003
Tappin et al, Used infant mattresses and sudden infant death syndrome in Scotland: casecontrol
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