Hi jaminjames,
There is more about Tempurpedic and toxicity in post #6 here and the posts it links to. They are not CertiPUR certified and unlike many other manufacturers they don’t provide any specific information about any testing they have done for harmful substances or VOC’s.
There are many complex issues that are connected to the safety of mattresses and mattress materials (and about the chemicals that are used in our society in general) and there is a great deal of inaccurate and misleading information on all sides of the conversation (see post #2 here). There is also very little definitive information available because in most cases the approach of the regulatory authorities is more towards allowing the use of chemicals until the evidence that they are unsafe becomes overwhelming and then changing regulations after the evidence becomes available than “proving safety” before they are approved (see post #19 here). On the other side of the issue there are many sources of information that use fear mongering tactics and make exaggerated claims that almost everything is “unsafe” unless it is completely natural or organic which to me is misleading and exaggerated as well. I believe that any extreme position on either side of the argument is unlikely to be accurate.
For those that are interested in doing more detailed research about organic, natural, chemical free, safe, and green materials there is more information in post #2 here and post #2 here and the many other posts and sources of information that they link to that can help sort through and differentiate the more factual information from the marketing information you will encounter about all of these interrelated topics and can help answer your questions about “how safe is safe enough for me?” because there are no definitive answers that would apply to every person.
Phoenix