Hello. I am having a very hard time finding out how long synthetic foams and other potentially toxic mattress materials are harmful to health. I have an opportunity to buy a very nice used Aireloom Hybird Bamboo mattress for a great price. It has some organic components, but also synthetics foam, viscose, etc. It is 3 years old - could it still be outgassing and causing harmful health effects? Thank you!
Technically everything offgasses and never really stops although the rate when these materials are new will typically be much higher. One thing that is important to note when it comes to the term ‘toxins’ which is thrown around an awful lot. Is that it is the dose of anything that determines the toxicity. So while this mattress will definitely be off gassing it is not likely to be in an amount that is ‘unsafe’.
Hi mamakaw,
I would add a “ditto” to Daniels comments.
While some people may be unusually sensitive to some materials due to certain medical issues such as MCS (multipal chemical sensitivities) or may be sensitive to some materials that the large majority of people would be fine with and these types of exceptions are really impossible to predict … if the foam has a reliable certification for harmful substances and VOC’s (see post #2 here) then outside of these more unusual circumstances or outside of those people who may prefer more natural materials for “personal” or lifestyle reasons (rather than “safety” reasons) … they would certainly be “safe enough” for the very large majority of people to sleep on.
Any initial odor can last for anywhere from a day or two to a few weeks before they diminish to levels that most people wouldn’t notice depending on the type of mattress and the materials inside it and on the sensitivity of the person.
As Daniel also mentioned … there is a great deal of exaggerated material on the web about “toxins” and “chemicals” and after 3 years it would be very unlikely that any offgassing would be at a level that would be harmful and probably weren’t even when the mattress was new.
Phoenix
mamakaw, I can help you with this but it’s a healthy roundabout solution that will clean up the toxins and outgassing and create more oxygen for you. Can you say houseplants? There are specific ones I recommend. The first id a Snake Plant. The second is a Peace Lily, and the third is a money tree. I mention these with one word of caution. They are all toxic to dogs and cats so you must put them out of the way. I also have kimberly queen ferns throughout my house as well as spider plants. Each plant removes very specific toxins but the ones I mentioned will remove the nastiest ones. There are several great videos on houseplants but there’s one book I would recommend to you and everyone living.
This one books lists plants by what the remove as well as how easy they are to care for. The ones I mentioned call all get away with little water. In fact, I grow most of my plants in hydroculture, which is a hybrid of hydroponics that is extremely popular in Europe. It just hasn’t caught on here yet. Anyway, this book will go a long way in helping to absorb the toxins from your mattress, dresser, carpet and anything else in your house that is offgassing.
And here’s a video where two people are discussing the toxins that some of these plants remove.
Hi mdgail1,
It sounds great in “theory” and of course plants can certainly help with air quality in more general terms but I don’t think I would have much confidence that this would help with any VOC’s that come from mattresses you are sleeping on because if a mattress was emitting harmful VOC’s at a level that would be harmful then you would be breathing in the VOC’s long before they reached the plants.
Phoenix
Phoenix, yes, agreed but they will certainly capture a lot of the VOC’s released when you aren’t sleeping. And, of course, each mattress is going to release different gasses. Some are better then others. There’s one highly affordable mattress that a lot of people here buy that I would never touch just for the reasons discussed in this post. With that said, we are constant contact with VOC’s on a daily basis. Carpet, Polywood Furniture, Glue, Ink, Carpet, Paint, Cigarette Smoke, and the list goes on. Honestly, the VOC’s coming from some of those other products are far more concerning to me then the offgassing of a quality mattress. If one is really worried about offgassing then it’s best for them to spend money on a pure, talalay mattress. It’ll cost a lot so buy direct from sleepez or another company. However, a pure latex matress will be your best bet.
Oh, and fyi. In my house I have houseplants and air purifiers. I don’t expect the plants to do everything so I do give them a bit of help. What my air purifier doesn’t do that they do is to provide a fresh supply of oxygen and we can’t live without it. So by putting a few stragetically placed houseplants around our bedroom and home and adding a few air purifiers we will capture the most dangerous VOC’s that are are part of our life.
Hi mdgail1,
I would tend to agree with your comments and you can also add cushioned furniture to the list which unlike mattresses commonly use foams that have added fire retardants.
There is a lot more information in post #2 here and the more detailed posts and information it links to about safe, natural, organic, “chemical free”, and “green” mattresses and mattress materials that can help sort through some of the marketing information and terminology that you will encounter in the industry and can help you differentiate between them and answer “how safe is safe enough for me” that can help each person decide on the types of materials they are most comfortable having in their mattress or on the certifications that may be important to them. These types of issues are complex and are generally specific to each person and their individual sensitivities, circumstances, criteria, beliefs, and lifestyle choices.
I wouldn’t consider Talalay latex to be the only “safe” type of latex or even the only “safe” material. All the latex you are likely to encounter (Dunlop or Talalay made with either natural or synthetic rubber or a blend of both) will have been certified by either Oeko-Tex or Eco-Institut for harmful substances and VOC’s (see post #2 here) and I would consider any type or blend of latex to be a very “safe” material in terms of harmful substances and VOC’s.
Phoenix