polyurethane allergy

[Basilio]

Hi raelin, welcome to The Mattress Underground
Glad to have you here.

I purchased a Tuft and Needle mattress. Super comfortable and loved it except I had a horrible number of allergic reactions to it and ended up with COPD. It is made from polyurethane. My question is are all mattresses that say polyurethane or memory foam or foam likely to cause the same reactions or are they all really the same thing with just a few other features added?. Which leaves me with latex and I know I am not allergic to latex.

Sorry to hear you have had a severe reaction to the Tuft and Needle mattress. While there are some chemicals that are used commonly in the production of mattress foams, there are also a myriad of different
Chemicals used as additives, hardeners and such. Tuft and Needle, like most ‘big box’ retailers, are less than transparent about the specific composition of their mattresses; they tend to use the proprietary ‘adaptive foam’ and similar in their descriptions. You should be able to see the full list of chemicals on the mattress tag for this specific polyfoam; unfortunately you would really need to have a health provider administer a full panel of allergy tests for all these to isolate what specific chemical or combination of chemicals, is causing the reaction to be absolutely sure. You may be perfectly fine on another foam component from a different mattress, or manufacturer.

The issue of “chemicals” in a mattress is a complex one with a lot of contradictory, misleading, and exaggerated information all over the web on all sides of the argument. You can take a look at the information inpost #2 hereabout organic, natural, green, chemical free, and “safe” materials and claims and the more detailed information in post #2 here and the posts it links to, may be helpful. The same goes for any memory foam - there are so many different chemicals and materials used in modern manufacturing processes you would really need to isolate which you are having the allergic reaction to, to be sure. You may be better off just avoiding these types of materials altogether; as you say you are certain latex is not causing a reaction, so you could try to find an all latex which you find comfortable.

It also can’t hurt to contact Tuft And Needle directly to see if they can provide any info…are you able to return it? I hope you can find an alternative solution for the polyfoam mattress you are using which provides the same comfort as the one you have.

Hope this helps,

~ Basilio