Hello LadyK,
First about the latex allergy question. While it is a complex subject, the essence of it is that there are basically 3 types of latex allergy or sensitivity (although two of them aren’t really an allergy to latex).
The first of these is irritant contact dermatitis which usually comes from an actual irritation to the skin such as from repeated donning of latex gloves or exposure to the powder on them often in combination with skin sweating or frequent hand washing. This is a result of physical skin irritation and wouldn’t apply to latex foam.
The second and most common of the “latex allergies” contact dermatitis allergies (type IV latex allergy) which is most likely a reaction to the chemicals additives or substances that are added to the latex in the manufacturing process and not the latex itself. This is more prevalent for those who have handled latex in various occupations over a period of time (such as health care workers using latex gloves). This is the less severe of the types of “latex allergies” and while it is not “common” it is also not so rare … particularly among certain occupations. Because latex foam has had most of the surface proteins and any remaining unreacted materials washed away during manufacturing (unlike other types of non foamed latex like gloves, condoms, balloons etc.), this is far less common with latex foam. This type of “latex allergy” is a contact allergy (or sensitivity) and the fact that most of the surface proteins and additives are washed away and that the latex is covered makes this type of allergy much less of an issue with latex mattresses. There is more detailed information and links in this thread and latex foam is not mentioned in any of the literature I’ve seen or linked as a possible source of this type of allergy.
The last type of latex allergy is type 1 which is much more rare but much more serious. This type of allergy can cause an anaphylactic reaction with breathing difficulties and swelling and like a bee sting in a small portion of the population can be life threatening. These people are almost always very aware of their allergy and have to go to great extremes to avoid natural latex which is very difficult because it is so widely used in our society. They for example have to check in restaurants where they eat that the workers aren’t wearing gloves with latex or they could have a severe reaction. Most people that sell latex mattresses can go a lifetime without ever seeing this type of latex allergy. This would be connected to the proteins found in natural latex which would be missing in synthetic latex.
There is more information and a brief description of each of these here. There is also some good information here with a list of symptoms for each type along with more information about testing for latex allergies or contact sensitivities.
There is also much more information about latex allergies in this topic and the many other sources of information that it links to as well.
In most cases … latex can actually help more common allergies because it is resistant to dust mites which are a leading cause of allergies in the population (see post #2 here). Strangely enough … there are certain allergies and certain conditions that can go hand in hand with latex allergies. Those with Spina Bifida for example have a much higher incidence and allergies to banana, pineapple, avocado, chestnut, kiwi fruit, mango, passionfruit, strawberry, and soy can all go hand in hand with it as well and is called the latex-fruit syndrome. There is a good Wikipedia article about latex allergies here and there is also a lot more information on various medical sites across the web.
More about the rest of your questions in the next post.
Phoenix