First impressions of Ikea Morgongava - for those interested

[phoenix]

HI Celcius,

Welcome to the Mattress Forum!

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and research on the IKEA Morgongava mattress. We’re shopping for a mattress, and are interested in the Morgongava (85% natural latex, 15% synthetic latex) but have yet to be able to confirm for ourselves that this mattress is indeed sufficiently non-toxic. This is especially important in our case as our infant will be co-sleeping in the bed with us.

The only reliable way to assess the “safety” of different materials in more general terms is based on lab tests and the certifications they have for harmful substances and VOCs (regardless of whether they are organic or natural or synthetic) so that you have some assurance than the VOCs are below the testing limits for the certification. If the materials in a mattress or the mattress itself has a reliable “safety” certification, then for most people they would certainly be “safe enough”, regardless of the type of material or the name of the manufacturer on the label.

You may have read this already but just in case you haven’t, there is more information in post #2 here and the topics it links to about mattresses and children and “suitable” and “safe” materials including a link to some general guidelines for children in post #2 here. It also includes a number of links to the better forum posts and topics about mattress and children as well which have more information about many good options children which would be well worth considering.

It’s been difficult to find much information about the mattress. IKEA themselves, who we called, are rather tight-lipped. The most they were willing to say by phone is that Dunlop is the supplier of the synthetic latex they use in the mattress.

To be fair to the people at Ikea, you’re probably phoning a call-center where they are reading, quite often, from the same information you see online, and they’re not experts in the componentry contained within their items. Dunlop would be the production method of the latex they use, not the supplier. Their latex is a blend (85 %NR, 15% SBR), not synthetic (which would be 100% SBR).

In particular, we’re wondering whether the synthetic latex used in the Morgongava is SBR (styrene-butadiene rubber), which is said to be toxic. It seems that most synthetic rubber is SBR, but not all. If this mattress is indeed tested by Oeko-Tex, then perhaps this indicates that the Morgongava synthetic latex is some other, non-SBR type.

Any version of latex (Dunlop or Talalay made from natural or synthetic latex or a blend of both) is a safe material and they are normally all tested for harmful substances and VOC’s with the same or similar testing protocols (Oeko-Tex or Eco-Institut). Post #2 here and the posts it links to talks more about testing form VOCs and harmful substances.

You can see more information about SBR and NR rubber in post #2 here. You can also read more about synthetic continuous pour Dunlop latex in post #2 here and there is more about natural rubber and synthetic rubber in post #2 here.

Both synthetic latex and natural latex are equally “rubber” or “latex” except natural latex is primarily isoprene rubber that comes from a tree (which can also be synthesized) and synthetic latex in the case of latex mattresses is made from Styrene Butadiene rubber (or SBR). Both natural and synthetic rubber are stable and inert materials when they are cured. This is similar to tires which also uses various blends of synthetic and natural rubber depending on the specific qualities that the tire manufacturer is looking for. Both natural and synthetic rubber used in mattresses … unlike tires … is foamed rubber which means that there are several other compounds that are needed in addition to the rubber to make the foamed latex core. These include curing agents, gelling agents, antioxidants, mold release agents, and other compounds that are used to make both natural and synthetic foamed rubber. These also become inert when the latex is cured or in some cases are washed out when the latex is washed after manufacturing (which also removes the excess proteins that can be a cause of latex allergies in 100% natural latex) which is why both 100% natural and blended latex will both pass the same safety testing for VOC’s and harmful ingredients, such as Oeko-Tex standard 100, and I personally would have no concerns with the safety of a natural or blended latex.

Are you able to provide any further confirmation that this mattress is indeed produced by Mountaintop Foam and that it is indeed Oeko-Tex certified?

I don’t have access to the information of who is currently pouring foam for Ikea, but if you were near an Ikea store you could look and see if you could find the law tag on the Morgongava and that information should be present there (I don’t have an Ikea near me to do this). If Mountain Top is still producing their foam, all of their products are Oeko-Tex or TFI-Germany certified. You could phone Mountain Top at 570-715-7200 or message them from their facebook page to ask as well.

Phoenix