I would like to give some more explanation on the Material Health certificate.
Cradle to Cradle helps to (re)design products and processes to become safer, healthier and environmentally friendly. https://www.c2ccertified.org/
In the last few years Radium Foam has redesigned and improved Natural Talalay towards the Silver level. For receiving the Material Health certificate the product does not contain any banned materials and there are no carcinogens, mutagens, or reproductive toxins in the material. This is a good accomplishment.
Regarding the off-gassing requirements for Cradle to Cradle Gold certification.
Radiumâs Natural Talalay meets the OEKOtex 100, Class 1 Standard. However, the OEKOTEX testing procedure does not cover all the VOCs required for C2C certification. Recently a VOC test that follows the AgBB Standard showed it meets all the off-gassing requirements for C2C Certification. Therefore, a new Material Health certificate will be available soon that shows the material meets VOC emissions.
Regarding Material Health and ABC-X requirements.
Cradle to Cradle assessments methodology first checks the potential hazard(s) of chemicals for both human and environmental health, and then an exposure assessment is applied. This basically means that for each exposure scenario (can be in production, use, recycling) it is checked whether the risk is considered significant or not. One example: one process chemical in rubber foam production is a chemical which is also found in a regular soap. This chemical is toxic to fish, however is not harmful for people and if it would be released to water it would biodegrade very quickly. Therefore this chemical is not considered to have a significant risk for the aquatic environment and it can be concluded that it is considered acceptable for use.
(In short, moderately problematic means the identified risk is not significant for the users and environment.)
The above might be quite technical. In summary, by receiving a Cradle to Cradle Health Certificate on the Silver level Natural Talalay meets stringent criteria and can be considered a safe material.
Frieke Heens
EPEA, the Cradle to Cradle assessor of Radium Foamâs Natural Talalay
Radium 's Natural Vita Talalay has been 100% assessed and is considered safe for human and environmental health. The product meets the VOC off-gassing requirements.
Progress has al;so been made in recyclability, renewable energy use and social fairness.
The Cradle to Cradle Certification Programm includes the following categories: material health, material reutilization, renewable energy, water management and social fairness.
Some of the reasons are listed in my previous reply in post #4 here.
The requirement to separate production lines for blended Talalay and organic Talalay would probably be enough by itself for a company to decide not to produce organic Talalay given the very small market that it would have.
Now that Radium has the Cradle to Cradle Gold certificate which also covers some of the same criteria as organic certifications (such as social and environmental considerations) there would be even less reason to have an organic certification.
Thank you for giving me a few of your assumptions on why there is no organic Talalay. However I think I have found out why it canât be made. A client of mine emailed me this explanation after spending a month researching the subject. This does not take away any of the natural qualities and certifications of the Talalay latex, but simply puts my question to rest.
Since there are no rubber trees in Europe or North America the rubber tree milk needs to be transported. Talalay is a complex process and is either processed in Europe, or in North America. Therefor technically it cannot be certified organic due to the fact the a stabilizer needs to be added to the rubber tree milk to prevent it from spoiling during transportation.
On the other hand Dunlop rubber can be certified organic because the rubber is processed on site (simpler process that Talalay) after tapping the rubber tree milk and does have stabilizers added.
I would really really appreciate comments from both Phoenix and Jeff Scheuer
An organic certification allows up to 5% of the formulation to be ânon organicâ materials (excluding synthetic rubber). While all field latex (including the field latex that is used to produce organic latex) uses some ammonia because itâs generally added to the collection cups in the plantation ⌠ammonia is only used in small amounts that are less than 1% and are even less for low ammoniated latex (see here) so it would be possible to produce organic Talalay latex that has âsomeâ ammonia added to it for stabilization during shipping as long as the total organic rubber content in a final product was 95% or higher and the final product still meets all the other GOLS certified organic criteria. ADMIN NOTE:Removed 404 page link | Archived Footprint: natural-rubber.com/latex.php
This Cradle to Cradle certificate is actually great news, in addition to the OekoTex 100 certificate.
As a business that specializes in âorganicâ products I have to say that organic
certificates donât always mean an awful lot as they are not legitimate safety certificates and many times do not even require lab testing for VOCâs or VVOCâs.
The Radium natural talalay definitely is a superior product and I appreciate the certificates that are backed by sound science.
MFC you are right, about why there likely will not be a GOLS certificate for natural talalay, maybe if the manufacture was done on site it would be possible, the question is whether there is a legitimate benefit.
Just for reference ⌠in one of the conversations I had with Radium in Holland I brought up the subject of whether âin theoryâ they would be able to acquire an organic certification for their 100% natural Talalay because the question often comes up. They told me there was no inherent reason why they couldnât but that it didnât make economic sense including because they would need to source their latex from an organic plantation and they would need to separate their production lines (you canât make organic certified latex in the same production facility as you make blended latex). While they wouldnât need to manufacture the latex on a production site that was near the plantation ⌠as you also mentioned the benefits (economic and otherwise) would be questionable
Now that they have the Cradle to Cradle Gold certification which in effect combines most of the benefits of both worlds there would be even less of a reason to pursue an organic certification.
Talalay Global on the other hand uses fillers in their latex so unlike Radium they wouldnât meet the 95% organic rubber criteria that is required for an organic certification even if they were sourcing their latex from an organic plantation and had separate production lines.
I really canât add to much to he previous comments from Phoenix.
I will mention that last fall I spoke with a mattress manufacturer using the Radium Talalay and they considered the (at that time) Cradle to Cradle Silver a superior certification to a potential GOLS. I also asked about the potential for a GOLS down the road, and while they mentioned it was certainly possible, they only stated that they were âin discussionsâ about it. I believe, for the reasons already mentioned in the post by Phoenix, that there would have to be quite a large demand for such a certification that would compel a latex company to dedicate an entire manufacturing section to this one form of Talalay.
The PTB/TG natural Talalay, while previously advertised as âorganic,â was not Cradle to Cradle nor GOLS certified for the reasons Phoenix mentioned. In the current PTB line their natural Talalay has been eliminated, and I donât know if TG is even producing a natural Talalay at this time. I know in my previous conversations with those at PTB it was never brough up as something that was really important to them in their marketing to pusue a Talalay that met more stringent certifications. But you never know what is going on behind the scenes and I of course donât have access to forward-looking information like that (and even if I did I ethically/legally couldnât share it).
Hi Daniel,
I get the feeling that your a little disappointed by some of the Organic certifications
In the case of Organic latex certification GOLS, (Global Organic Latex Standard) itâs the single most important certification in the latex mattress industry, as it covers organic, purity, environmental and labor parameters in one certification. The two most important aspects of GOLS are that it forbids the use of synthetic latex and it guarantees the latex to be free of diluent fillers such as chalk.
You are correct that GOLS does not test for VOCâs or VVOCâs but in the case of the organic latex sold by Natureâs Embrace the tests and certifications are done by Eco-Institut and actually have a lower TVOC threshold than Cradle to Cradle. ADMIN NOTE:Removed 404 page link | Archived Footprint: 0304.nccdn.net/1_5/000/000/134/20e/ECO-LATEx-FOAM--Full-Report-.pdf
Both GOLS and Eco test for Organic and or Natural Latex polymer content. For GOLS 95% purity is required . Eco has a variety of tests and levels of certification.
We agree that both Organic Dunlop and Radium latex are by far the finest natural bedding products on the market. However for purity it seams only GOLS and Eco-Institut test for content of at least 95% Natural/Organic latex polymer in order to give a certification.
Correct me if Iâm wrong, but the cradle to cradle gold certification does not require a content test, but only a absence of banned chemical test?
To come back to my original question, how can a customer be certain that he is buying 100% latex, if there is no independent testing or certification for content?
While Iâm not Daniel of course ⌠I can add a few comments âŚ
There are many people in the industry that I talk with that probably wouldnât agree with you on this. An organic certification has little to nothing to do with the quality or performance of a product (itâs virtually identical to the same material that doesnât have an organic certification) even though it adds to the cost of a product. It also doesnât test the final product for harmful substances or VOCâs (although of course an organic product would generally be considered as safe ⌠there is nothing to âproveâ it) so it would require a second certification (such as Eco-Institut as you mentioned) to confirm that there are no harmful substances or VOCâs in the final product. In other words there are many people in the industry that question the âvalueâ of an organic certification vs the same material that doesnât have an organic certification and in the industry as a whole I think that there are many more people that are concerned with the âsafetyâ of a mattress than whether it has an organic certification.
As a single certification the C2C gold certification tests for harmful substances and VOCâs and includes social and environmental considerations as well (similar to GOLS) for those where this is an important part of a purchase choice and the only additional benefits of the GOLS certification that I can see vs the C2C gold certification (outside of knowing that the raw field latex used to make the latex was certified organic) is that it also includes a requirement that the product contains 95% or more natural latex.
In other words ⌠both C2C and GOLS may require a second certification to satisfy some of the criteria that may be important to a customer. In the case of C2C Gold it could require a second certification that includes natural latex content and in the case of GOLS it could require a second certification that includes specific testing for harmful substances and VOCâs.
Assuming that you mean 100% natural latex (rather than 100% latex because synthetic latex is just as much âlatexâ as natural latex) ⌠the most obvious answer would be that a customer that is only willing to consider a product that contains 100% natural latex (without any synthetic latex) and requires some type of âproofâ of the natural latex content of a product (outside of a manufacturers description) would probably purchase a product that has a certification that includes the level of âproofâ that they are comfortable with.
For those consumers where 100% natural latex is a primary consideration for reasons other than safety (synthetic latex is also a very safe material and in general will pass the same âsafetyâ certifications as natural latex) ⌠then certifications such as QUL, Eco-Institut, and GOLS that confirm the natural latex content would probably be more important.
Yes I agree with you that there are many more customers that are concerned with the âsafetyâ of a mattress than whether it has an organic certification. However we need to keep in mind that the organic movement is gaining ground and more people are becoming conscious of the importance of buying pure, chemical free products and supporting fair environmental and labor practices. A growing number of consumers are now hypersensitive and require chemical free products in order to live normal lives.
On a final note, it would be a great advantage for the manufacturers of 100% natural Talalay, to get a simple certification that confirms, that their product is composed of 100% natural Talalay. Just like the Organic latex manufacturers have to prove that their product is made of organic materials.
Thank you for your all comments, I can put my question to rest
Can anyone supply us with a Material Health Certificate for the new Gold rated product? If not, can anyone just tell us the difference between the Silver and the Gold? Someone suggested in might all be in the environmental category. Is that correct?
The Cradle to Cradle Certified Product Standard, Version 3.1, is located here.
Thereâs an incredible amount of information on the Cradle to Cradle site about their testing procedures. You should have some fun pouring through that.
Ms. Heens does not work for Radium. She is a scientific project manager at EPEA Nederland. You would need to contact someone at Radium for an answer to this particular question, or perhaps a manufacturer using this foam to see when they start using it.
If you scroll back to post #16 in this topic you will see that Radium has already received the C2C Gold certification for their 100% natural talalay.
As I understand it the Material Health Certificate is included as part of the gold product certification and isnât issued separately if you have the product certification. Their scorecard is here and their gold product certificate is here. You can see the differences between the C2C Silver product certification and the Gold product certifications in section 2.4 in this document. You can also see the VOC testing limits for the Gold material health certification in section 3.9 of the same document.
This really isnât possible to answer because its not possible to know which certification a formulation that was used prior to the time a material was submitted to a certifying agency would have qualified for or which certification any potential future formulation would qualify for. The C2C certification is based on a process of continuous evaluation and improvement and the only higher certification would be a platinum but itâs not really possible to predict when or if a product will meet a higher certification until it actually happens.
