Organic mattresses are expensive, but that hasn’t scared away the health-conscious consumer. Specialty mattress manufacturers report a 35 percent increase per year in sales of organic beds, with more demand than they can keep up with. As the industrialized world becomes more concerned with chemicals in everything we touch, the demand for organic goods increases faster than manufacturers can keep up with.
Organic mattresses are such a new product that no one really knows how to define them precisely. Neither the bedding industry nor the government have ever set formal standards for what makes a mattress organic. Ask anyone in furniture sales or manufacturing what an organic mattress is, and you’ll get a hundred different answers.
Consumers know what they’re looking for in an organic mattress. With the realization that we spend roughly one-third of our lives in contact with our bed, the organically-inclined consumer wants a mattress free from chemical compounds with unknown effects on the human body. The demand for crib mattresses and child-size beds made from organic materials is especially high. Children are typically less resistant to toxins than adults, and babies spend even more time in bed than adults. The average newborn may sleep from 15 to 20 hours a day.
If you currently sleep on a non-organic mattress, it’s probably a combination of synthetic foam and synthetic fibers. Some non-organic mattresses are a blend of natural fibers like cotton and synthetic fibers. If a mattress is non-organic, then it probably contains polyvinyl chloride (PVC) foam, which has been identified for further study as a possible toxin. Mattress manufacturers must comply with laws requiring them to treat their products with an insecticide and a flame retardant prior to sale.
When you shop for an organic mattress, your challenge will be to buy an organic product that complies with the law on flame retardants and insecticides. Ultimately, most people end up compromising and getting a mostly-organic mattress. This type of product probably isn’t toxin-free, but it’s advertised as less toxic than conventional alternatives.
A compromise mattress should be free of brominated flame retardants and instead use organic phosphor or nitrogen-based compounds. If the mattress contains synthetic fibers or foams, they should be free of biocides, such as pentachlorophenol (PCP), lindane, and tinorganic/organotin compounds. Mattresses containing foam should have a minimum amount of formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) such as methane, aldehydes, ketones, and other light hydrocarbons. In addition, look for mattresses that are free of arlyamines and phthalate plasticizers.
Typically, bedding manufacturers use boric acid to make bedding insect-proof. Boric acid is an organic compound found in the environment that has been used for hundreds of years. The jury is still out on its safety, but there are enough studies giving it a good review to consider giving it a pass. Your only other alternative is to spend a lot more money.
A no-compromise organic mattress is made from natural latex rubber. Many people are unaware that latex is a natural material which is tapped from the rubber tree grown on plantations in South America and Africa. The beauty of latex is its naturally flame resistant and pest resistant properties. Latex also has great comfort, similar to memory foam but without synthetic chemical compounds. The only drawback of latex mattresses are their expense, particularly when shopping for a child’s mattress that he or she will soon outgrow.
The best way to find out what’s in the organic mattress you’re looking at is to call the company that made it. Reputation is the best sales tool in the organic mattress industry, and most manufacturers will bend over backward to answer your questions so they can get good word of mouth advertising.
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PXP - Polysaccharide X Peptides.