All Mattresses are required by law to contain fire retardants
January 2006 Risk Assessment from the CPSC stated that the average adult will absorb a daily dose of .802 mg of Antimony (Arsenic), .081 mg Boric Acid (Roach Killer), and .073 mg DBDPO (Deca) from flame proof mattresses, every night. Plus they say five year old children will absorb .5 mg Antimony every night, this is 63 times more poison than the EPA says is safe. Younger children were not studied.
The flame retardants being used in mattresses:
Boric acid
A roach killer, and known reproductive &
developmental toxin
Shown to inhibit the development and growth of colon, liver, and breast
cancers in laboratory animals
Antimony
According to ATSDR (a division of the CDC) the toxic effects of Antimony are as follows:
"Breathing high levels of antimony for a long time can irritate the eyes and lungs, and can cause problems with the lungs, heart, and stomach. Breathing high levels for a long time can irritate your eyes and lungs and can cause heart and lung problems, stomach pain, diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach ulcers. In short-term studies, animals that breathed very high levels of antimony died. Animals that breathed high levels had lung, heart, liver, and kidney damage. In long-term studies, animals that breathed very low levels of antimony had eye irritation, hair loss, lung damage, and heart problems. Problems with fertility were also noted. In animal studies, problems with fertility have been seen when rats breathed very high levels of antimony for a few months. Ingesting large doses of antimony can cause vomiting. We don't know what other effects may be caused by ingesting it. Long-term animal studies have reported liver damage and blood changes when animals ingested antimony. Antimony can irritate the skin if it is left on it. Lung cancer has been observed in some studies of rats that breathed high levels of antimony."
Antimony is a heavy metal that has been linked to heart damage, cancer, and SIDS
(sudden infant death syndrome).
Supportive
therapy for intestinal infections and disturbances, helping to reduce
inflammation
DBDPO (Deca) is in the family of PBDE’s
Known to bioaccumulate
Linked to cancer
Kevlor (Aramid) - Fire resistant material used in Sealy mattresses
PTFE/Teflon fabric
Sealy states on their website, "the current sewing and quilting threads used in Sealy beds will be replaced with Kevlar, the same material used in bullet-proof vests."
For more detailed information on fire retardants in mattresses please review
the literature on
