Memory foam mattress topper (& MF mattresses?) - I am sick from VOCs

[phoenix]

Hi 1whitehorse1,

I’m sorry to hear about your experience with your mattress and I can sympathize because I had a similar experience with a memory foam topper made by a different manufacturer (see here). The only good news is that the symptoms usually tend to go away relatively quickly after you are no longer sleeping on the mattress.

I would also be cautious about Lucid and I would read post #6 here and post #2 here along with this topic and the posts they link to (along with a forum search on Lucid (you can just click the link) which will also bring up more information about them as well) before considering them. In all fairness though … and to their credit … they are listed on the CertiPur site here* and have been tested for harmful substances and VOC’s so for most people they would be “safe enough” and your experience wouldn’t be the norm.

ADMIN NOTE: *Removed 404 link|Archived Footprint: certipur.us/pages/for-consumers/find-products/

Having said that … for those that are more sensitive then there can be a higher risk of sensitivity with some types of memory foam and most people that are very sensitive to certain chemicals will often tend to avoid memory foam completely (and sometimes polyfoam as well).

There is a great deal more information in post #2 here and the posts and other sources of information that it links to that can help each person answer the very complex and frustrating question of “how safe is safe enough for me?”.

Now that you are looking for a new mattress … the first place I would start is the mattress shopping tutorial here which has all the basic information, steps, and guidelines that can help you make the best possible choices … and perhaps more importantly know how and why to avoid the worst ones (including the major manufacturers such as Sealy, Simmons, and Serta).

The tutorial also includes links to several lists of the better online choices that I’m aware of and post #1 here also includes the better options and possibilities in the Toronto area that I’m aware of as well.

I have looked at Essentia sold from their storefront in the Beaches area of Toronto, and Obasan, sold through Soma Organic beds in North York by Yorkdale mall. Both are well reviewed for being near-organic and have very little VOC emissions compared to conventional beds

You may have read some of these already but you can read some of my thoughts about Essentia and some of the misleading claims they make and some forum discussions with them in this thread and this thread and posts #3 and #4 here).

I know of the brand OMI (Organicpedic) as well, but they contain wool, and I am actually allergic to wool, so I am less inclined to consider them, even if they could manufacture one for me without wool. OMI is sold through ELTE in Toronto.

In general wool allergies are a contact allergy and aren’t an issue with mattresses that use wool quilting in the cover so there is no direct contact (see this topic and the end of post #2 here) and there are many advantages to using wool in a quilting layer (see post #6 here).

OMI certainly uses high quality materials in their mattresses but I would also make some careful value comparisons because there are also other manufacturers that use the same or very similar materials in their mattresses that are in much lower budget ranges.

Phoenix