AP Baby

My post about SIDS, which I posted on Mothering.com's boards, generated lots of discussion... mostly grateful to know this is BS science that is trying to scare parents, for which I'm glad. But I was a little surprised at how many wrote, "But I will still buy an organic mattress, because of the toxic fumes!"

The theory behind this is that mattresses which have been treated to be inflammable must give off fumes which are toxic for humans to breathe.

Personally, this doesn't make a lot of sense to me. I have a hard time believing that just about every industrialized country treats mattresses to make them less flammable, and adults sleep on them 8 hours a night every night for years and years, without a marked affect from the treatment. I think we'd definitely see some changes in rates of allergy/asthma problems from the times when mattresses began to be regularly treated. Maybe even other symptoms... headaches, for one, all kinds of sleep disorders, I can think of a million things that breathing toxic fumes would cause.

Regardless, *everyone* knows this is true. Googling "toxic mattress fumes," will pull up thousands of results confirming that mattresses are toxic. Of course, almost unanimously these are sites which are selling organic mattresses. Some are selling other things. Some just say it to say it. NONE have any proof whatsoever, that I've been able to find, that mattresses emit toxic fumes.

I'm not saying proof is not out there. I'm simply saying that it seems it would be easier to find. If this were really such a big problem, I cannot imagine that the CDC and similar organizations for other countries around the world, would not have researched it and made public their findings.

I did find this, from the National SIDS Council of Australia...
http://www.sidsandkids.org/documents/September2005_000.doc

Also check out their FAQ on safe sleeping. This is a PDF file.
http://svc021.wic005tp.server-web.com/documents/FAQOctober2006.pdf
They restate their position that the claim about gases from mattresses contributing to SIDS is patently false.

Here's a news article about mattress toxicity; please note that the person suggesting that mattresses are toxic is SELLING MATTRESSES!

Here's a press release about flammability regulations for mattresses with some very dramatic photos.
http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml06/06091.html

There are so many things in this universe to be legitmately worried about, I hate to think of so many people jumping at the shadow that is mattress fumes. On the other hand, if anyone has PROOF... real live scientific studies (which, IMO, it would be very very easy to conduct!) which prove that mattresses are toxic, please do let me know!