I came across several articles recently concerning a New Zealand study done on SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) which indicates toxic chemicals used to manufacture crib mattresses as the cause for SIDS.
It’s very interesting and certainly food for thought for parents of infants.
Hi NHDad,
I’ve read about the same study previously and it’s certainly food for thought and very compelling.
It would be interesting if there was more information available about the “unwrapped” mattresses to see if there were any common materials that all or at least most of them included but either way I don’t think there is any doubt about the effectiveness of the mattress wrapping campaign.
Phoenix
I don’t know if the incidence of SIDS is higher now than it was when my daughter was born almost 40 years ago. Back then, nobody I knew was thinking about chemicals in mattresses, or whether something was made in China, and I never heard about mattress wrapping. We were also told to always put baby to sleep on stomach, which has totally changed since then.
It would be interesting to know if there are more or fewer SIDS cases now (as measured by X cases per 1000 births) since now people seem to pay a lot more attention to things such as mattresses for infants.
Hi Clawdia,
According to this page the incidence of SIDS since the 1950’s has increased proportionately to the use of various chemicals …
[quote]Q: Why was SIDS rare before 1950?
A: Prior to 1950, harmful chemicals were not added to mattresses. It was postwar technology that prompted the common use of phosphorus as a plasticizer, arsenic as a preservative and antimony as a fire retardant. In England and Wales the SIDS statistics from 1953 onward increased in parallel with the increasing concentration of antimony in mattress covers. In addition, prior to 1950 people commonly used soap for baby laundry, whereas now detergent and fabric softeners are commonplace. Detergent contains nitrogen and phosphorus compounds on which the fungus feeds.[/quote]
Phoenix