Which is more toxic - an old mattress or a new one?

[bellydance2290]

We just moved our 2 yr old DD into her own bed and gave her the Queen from our guest room for now. The mattress is probably about 10 years old and is a pretty standard mattress (not sure which brand right now). I am trying to decide which is better or worse for her - keep her on the old mattress until we can afford a good, non toxic one or get her a new mattress? We can't afford an organic, all natural mattress right now so it would probably be a Serta or comparable. I've researched all of my options and it seems like most standard mattresses are about the same as far as toxins go - they use fibers with the flame retardant in them. Serta says they use boric acid also.
Any advice? My brain is overwhelmed from reading all the sites about mattresses and bedding!!

[Denvergirlie]

Old mattress has already off-gassed, the contents are stable and if not damaged or gross, is by far the better option over buying a new conventional mattress.

[talia rose]

They are both toxic in their own ways. A new mattresses offgasses chemicals in a gas form. This is called VOCs and gets better with age. After a few years the chemicals have offgassed a lot (and are now safely stored in your breastmilk and unborn children).

An older mattress which is traditionally made from petrochemical foams breaks down into a fine dust as it gets older. This dust bonds with the dust molecules in your home and each time you walk through your home you kick them up and breathe them in. They cover your crawling child's hands and get passed into their bodies through hand/mouth contact. This is called SVOCs and it gets much worse with age. In a recent study, the vaccum dust of 75 houses across the country was examined and the level of PBDE dust in each sample was off the charts.

Finding this information out as a doula and prenatal yoga teacher freaked me out so much it completely changed my life direction. I personally believe saving for an organic mattress is an important thing to do for your families health.

[Juvysen]

Originally Posted by talia rose

They are both toxic in their own ways. A new mattresses offgasses chemicals in a gas form. This is called VOCs and gets better with age. After a few years the chemicals have offgassed a lot (and are now safely stored in your breastmilk and unborn children).

An older mattress which is traditionally made from petrochemical foams breaks down into a fine dust as it gets older. This dust bonds with the dust molecules in your home and each time you walk through your home you kick them up and breathe them in. They cover your crawling child's hands and get passed into their bodies through hand/mouth contact. This is called SVOCs and it gets much worse with age. In a recent study, the vaccum dust of 75 houses across the country was examined and the level of PBDE dust in each sample was off the charts.

Finding this information out as a doula and prenatal yoga teacher freaked me out so much it completely changed my life direction. I personally believe saving for an organic mattress is an important thing to do for your families health.

Off to save for new mattresses for us all...

[swd12422]

Yikes. I almost didn't bother to read this thread, b/c DS is on a 10+ year old mattress and I assumed it would be better than a new one. Now I'm thinking it's time to replace it...