Dangers Of Foam Mattresses
Mattresses are known to release minute amounts of gaseous chemicals called volatile organic compounds vocs.
Dangers of foam mattresses. The short answer is no. A new study has shown that breathing the chemicals from polyurethane foam can be dangerous. Especially in those that have been using memory foam beddings. In summary here s what s in standard foam mattresses.
It is simply difficult to measure. This is especially true for infants that sleeping on a new mattress. These include morning headaches muscle pain frequent nausea and the lack of concentration. The vocs off gassed from foam can irritate the eye nose and throat cause headaches loss of coordination and nausea and damage the liver kidney and central nervous system.
The reduced cognitive ability is most often reported in young children. Mattresses made of cotton wool and natural latex dramatically produce less voc emissions than their foam counterparts. Ask if the foam was made with mdi or tdi as mdi is known to be safer. Choosing a safe memory foam mattress.
The symptoms stop when the person is no longer near the mattress though and go away once it airs out. A small percentage of owners report difficulty breathing headaches nausea eye and throat irritation and asthma. The formula for the open cell polymeric foam used in these beds comes from. Ask what kind of blowing agents are used.
Find out if a the foam is plant based or made from petroleum. Memory foam mattresses are true space age marvels. Several chemicals found in foam mattresses pose adverse health risks making them questionable toxic products. A to z of d toxing provides a detailed overview of chemicals that can be found in polyurethane foam and their possible health effects.
During the study scientists utilized lab rats to breath in the fumes for a certain period of time. But perhaps one of the more difficult stumbling blocks to testing the health benefits of mattresses such as memory foam is the subjective nature of sleep. Sleeping on a polyurethane foam mattress puts you at the biggest risk for voc inhalation. You can recognize the symptoms of exposure to the harmfulness of foam mattresses.
These vocs come mainly from the polyurethane used in the mattress but also from other. Plant based foams have fewer synthetic materials in them and emit fewer vocs.