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 ātoxinsā 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 āunsafeā.
Hi mamakaw,
I would add a ādittoā 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 ā¦ if the foam has a reliable certification for harmful substances and VOCās (see post #2 here) then outside of these more unusual circumstances or outside of those people who may prefer more natural materials for āpersonalā or lifestyle reasons (rather than āsafetyā reasons) ā¦ they would certainly be āsafe enoughā 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 wouldnāt notice depending on the type of mattress and the materials inside it and on the sensitivity of the person.
As Daniel also mentioned ā¦ there is a great deal of exaggerated material on the web about ātoxinsā and āchemicalsā and after 3 years it would be very unlikely that any offgassing would be at a level that would be harmful and probably werenāt even when the mattress was new.
Phoenix
mamakaw, I can help you with this but itās 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 thereās 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 hasnāt 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.
Hi mdgail1,
It sounds great in ātheoryā and of course plants can certainly help with air quality in more general terms but I donāt think I would have much confidence that this would help with any VOCās that come from mattresses you are sleeping on because if a mattress was emitting harmful VOCās at a level that would be harmful then you would be breathing in the VOCās long before they reached the plants.
Phoenix
Phoenix, yes, agreed but they will certainly capture a lot of the VOCās released when you arenāt sleeping. And, of course, each mattress is going to release different gasses. Some are better then others. Thereās 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 VOCās on a daily basis. Carpet, Polywood Furniture, Glue, Ink, Carpet, Paint, Cigarette Smoke, and the list goes on. Honestly, the VOCās 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 itās best for them to spend money on a pure, talalay mattress. Itāll 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 donāt expect the plants to do everything so I do give them a bit of help. What my air purifier doesnāt do that they do is to provide a fresh supply of oxygen and we canāt 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 VOCās 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, āchemical freeā, and āgreenā 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 āhow safe is safe enough for meā 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 wouldnāt consider Talalay latex to be the only āsafeā type of latex or even the only āsafeā 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 VOCās (see post #2 here) and I would consider any type or blend of latex to be a very āsafeā material in terms of harmful substances and VOCās.
Phoenix