How toxic is this mattress?

[bluedaisy]

I recently wrote a post expressing concern about moving into a new campus apartment - Some of my fears were alleviated becasue the building is LEED certified and so they use green carpets without carpet glue and no-VOC paint, and the apartment doesn't even smell like a new building.

But I am concerned about the mattress my daughter will be using - it is 87% ployurethane foan and 13% resin treated textile pad.  I tried to google polyurethane and gots lots of links about how bad memory foam mattresses are.

This doesn't say memory foam and it's not a typical mattress - it's definitely a dorm mattress, thinner than regular mattresses and the outside is a plastic-y waterproof material.

I bought an all natural wool mattress cover and organic sheets - the quilt is not organic but is several years old so I'm hoping most of the chemicals in the quilt have faded - do you think that's enough?  Would you be comfortable with your 2 year old sleeping on this?

Thanks!

[zebra15]

YES!  when my son was 2 he was sleeping on a crib mattress, cotton sheets and a ratty blanket that he would not give up for anything. 

[talia rose]

This is a petroleum based foam made with pure chemicals and toxic flame retardants. The chemicals in this mattress will end up in your child's body. What this means for their health is anyone's guess. It is likely these chemicals will end up in your daughter's babies blood and in her breast milk. The organic pad on top does very little to protect her. If it was new it would be offgassing in a gas form which would pass right through the bedding on top. When it gets old the foam will break down into an airborne dust that will be kicked up every time someone walk through the room resulting in the dust being breathed in. If she plays on the floor her hands will become coated in the dust.

I wish I had better news for you on this. When I found out this information, I made buying my daughter and ourselves an organic mattress our number one priority.....

[ElaynesMom]

It depends. Can you afford to buy an organic mattress for her? If you can afford it I would buy one, if you can't afford it then as hard as it is, I wouldn't constantly worry about it because that really won't change anything.

My daughter sleeps on a polyurethane foam mattress from Ikea. Thankfully Ikea does not use flame retardants on any of their mattresses sold in Canada (confirmed by the company) as we have different regulations than in the US. It's still petroleum based foam, but I figure it's better than a mattress that is made of polyurethane foam AND is treated with flame retardant chemicals. Unfortunately due to finances we absolutely cannot afford an all natural/organic mattress or futon for her or us, and she needs a bed. Ideally I wouldn't expose my child to any chemicals if I could help it, but with our financial situation it isn't possible, so I just do the best I can to minimize it when possible. My daughter is also exposed to vinyl flooring in our apartment that we cannot change, etc. It's unfortunate, but that's life.

[bluedaisy]

Thanks for the replies...

talia rose...thanks for the info...do you have any sources for that?  I need to be able to convince DH that an organic mattress would be an important investment since we got this one for free

elaynesmom - thanks for your input - it frustrates me so much that it seems like you have to be rich just to avoid so many of the toxic chemicals we are exposed to.  We are getting tax money so we could afford a mattress if we make it a priority, but there are so many other things we could do with that money too.  We are also considering moving back to DH's home country in a year or two so I'm not sure the investment is worth it since we might just have to sell it in a year or two.  I am also planning to start ttc soon and I hate the fact that I am also sleeping on a mattress that's not organic.  our mattress is several years old so it's not new and off gassing like dd's, but i would still love to be able to get organic mattresses for all of us, they're just so expensive and money is tight right now. 

[talia rose]

if you go to this page there are several articles

http://organicgrace.com/articles-links

i agree that is just not fair that we have to pay more to NOT be poisoned. it is one of the reasons i began my business, to try to provide better priced options. but they are still very expensive. you may want to consider a "build your own" option - buying layers of raw latex with a simple cotton cover. it can save money, be just as comfortable, but not quite as fancy. this option has become very popular lately. also, if you end up moving abroad, organic mattresses have a good resale value on craigslist ect....

[bluedaisy]

Thanks everyone - I think I will use some of our tax money to buy either an organic mattress or an air purifier - if you could only buy one, which one would you buy?

[talia rose]

tough choice. i think i would start with the mattress. you can save 10% off either with the code "mothering" on our website....