Toxic Bed
Toxic Bed, 1
Are You Sleeping in A Toxic Bed?
Michele Badanek
Florida Gulf Coast University
Dr Donna Wolf
CRN 81965
9/02/2012
Toxic Bed, 2
Abstract
Sleeping in a toxic bed is something everyone should be aware of. It has not been an informed choice by most consumers. After understanding the issue, I chose to apply what I had learned and stopped using the bed I was accustomed to, and instead created a safer sleeping environment. It doesn’t really matter if someone understands or is aware of this problem, a toxic bed will significantly affect their health. The intention behind the use of flame retardant chemicals was admirable, but ineffective. Chemicals do not offer the protection from fire and death as originally suggested; and worse, they bring into the equation their …show more content…
own toxicity problems. Clearly, everyone is affected by a toxic bed because each person rests in a bed whether it is one that they have personally purchased or a bed that was made available to them. Being human, most people just take the path of least resistance, accepting the bed as presented to them without giving it a second thought other than how comfortable it is. Unfortunately, modern day mattresses and pillows are soaked with some very dangerous chemicals including Antimony
Trioxide, Boric Acid, Formaldehyde, Decabromodiphenol Oxide, Zinc Borate Vinylidiene
Chloride and Melamine. Purportedly to be flame retardants, insecticides and anti- microbials; chemicals in any quantity can’t possibly be a healthy option when you consider how trapped you are breathing the air in such close proximity to the chemicals out gassing from your mattress and pillow. “The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) Jan-06 Risk Assessment of
Flameproof Mattresses really does say we will absorb a daily dose of toxins from flameproof mattresses of: .802 mg Antimony, .081 mg Boric Acid, .073 mg DBDPO”(Strobel). Couple this arrangement with the thought of how much you sweat, generate heat and sometimes friction and
Toxic Bed, 3 the chemical equation can be exacerbated depending on your size. Size would also come into the equation relative to the doses of chemicals relative to a small child or baby.
It is rather difficult to get dosage answers as manufacturers of beds and bed products use many different names for the same chemical, for example, the chemical Antimony Trioxide may have as many as twenty- nine different synonyms all referring to the product that is placed within our mattress. The dose or quantity of Boric Acid is also difficult to find out, but according to a web campaign of concerned citizens trying to get the law changed, they calculate that if the
“label tells us the mattress contains: 47% Urethane Foam, 39% Treated Cotton, 13% Polyester
Fiber. (Then) By weighing the cotton batting in the mattress and assuming 10% Boric Acid by weight, Boric Acid treated mattresses would contain the following amount of Boric Acid in each mattress: (3) Amount of Boric Acid in Mattresses by Size
Size
Pounds
Grams
Ounces
King
1.8
824
29
Queen
1.5
659
23
Full
1.2
553
20
Twin
0.9
386
14”
(previous text and table quoted Strobel) The investigation by Strobel, founder of the people for clean beds and owner of a clean bed manufacturing plant continues to state that the boric acid is not bound in any way so that it could disassociate and easily be breathed in by the sleeper. But another, more scientific entity (Laverge) recently performed their research and
Toxic Bed, 4 suggests that although indeed the toxic chemicals listed above are present in your mattress, it is their conclusion that the heat generated by a human being sleeping actually dilutes or breaks down the chemicals… “The results show that human metabolism and corresponding heat release by the human body are dominant factors in the dilution of pollutants emitted in close proximity of the nose, reducing exposure by 40% compared to a case without metabolic heat output. This effect is more important than the sleep position. An important finding is that sleeping with the head under the covers increases intake by a factor 24 and results in a rebreathing rate of over
60%” (Laverge). This study used robotic breathing machines to simulate human beings, this certainly cannot mimic a human who may or may not already have acquired a toxic body burden.
Our individual toxic body burdens are probably the most confusing part of this issue, for example, if Sally is already toxic from working in a factory that makes plastic shelving, her toxic bed is going to aggravate her right away, and the same bed may not bother her husband, who is a health nut Olympian swimmer. But the toxins will still be there in his system, as a chronic and slow releasing drip of chemical ions that his kidney and liver will eventually be overwhelmed by.
The most disturbing part is that the chemicals that have been mandated by law to be in our mattress is ineffective at preventing death from fires, because most deaths result from the inhalation of toxic fumes.
Science Daily produced an article recently that suggests that fumes from toxic chemicals applied to bedding cause death before the actual fire consumes a person, as reported to them by
National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the researcher and Dr,
Anna A. Stec, Ph.D., illustrated that “"Halogen-based flame retardants are effective in reducing the ignitability of materials," Stec said.
"We found, however, that flame retardants have the undesirable effect of increasing the amounts of carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide released
Toxic Bed, 5 during combustion. These gases, not the thermal effects of burns on the body, are the No. 1 cause of fire deaths” (Stec). This is proof positive that they very event these chemicals were implemented to prevent is still an issue and that the cure is quite possibly more disastrous than the cause. Does it really makes sense to poison millions of people to save the few that are choosing to poison themselves voluntarily with cigarettes? Purchasing a customized Organic bed is a very expensive choice (almost 5,000), but of course, creating the conditions in the body for a bout of cancer is also expensive. There is a third answer, and it works for anyone! Just build your own bed out of non-treated wood, make a raised platform and either get an organic bed topper from Ikea (might need two or three) or just buy numerous organic blankets and sew them together to desired firmness. After your sheets, pillows and comforter are in place, no one is the wiser, and you can have a very safe place to sleep!
References
Laverge J, Novoselac A, Corsi R, Janssens A, Experimental assessment of exposure to gaseous pollutants from mattresses and pillows while asleep, Building and Environment (2012), doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2012.08.020. Strobel,Mark director of www.PeopleForCleanBeds.org and www.Strobel.com , 3131 Industrial
Parkway, Jeffersonville IN 47130
Stec, quotes are from Science daily….
American Chemical Society (ACS) (2012, March 27). Some flame retardants make fires
Toxic Bed, 6 more deadly. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 2, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2012/03/120327134240.htm
Are You Sleeping in A Toxic Bed?
Michele Badanek
Florida Gulf Coast University
Dr Donna Wolf
CRN 81965
9/02/2012
Toxic Bed, 2
Abstract
Sleeping in a toxic bed is something everyone should be aware of. It has not been an informed choice by most consumers. After understanding the issue, I chose to apply what I had learned and stopped using the bed I was accustomed to, and instead created a safer sleeping environment. It doesn’t really matter if someone understands or is aware of this problem, a toxic bed will significantly affect their health. The intention behind the use of flame retardant chemicals was admirable, but ineffective. Chemicals do not offer the protection from fire and death as originally suggested; and worse, they bring into the equation their …show more content…
own toxicity problems. Clearly, everyone is affected by a toxic bed because each person rests in a bed whether it is one that they have personally purchased or a bed that was made available to them. Being human, most people just take the path of least resistance, accepting the bed as presented to them without giving it a second thought other than how comfortable it is. Unfortunately, modern day mattresses and pillows are soaked with some very dangerous chemicals including Antimony
Trioxide, Boric Acid, Formaldehyde, Decabromodiphenol Oxide, Zinc Borate Vinylidiene
Chloride and Melamine. Purportedly to be flame retardants, insecticides and anti- microbials; chemicals in any quantity can’t possibly be a healthy option when you consider how trapped you are breathing the air in such close proximity to the chemicals out gassing from your mattress and pillow. “The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) Jan-06 Risk Assessment of
Flameproof Mattresses really does say we will absorb a daily dose of toxins from flameproof mattresses of: .802 mg Antimony, .081 mg Boric Acid, .073 mg DBDPO”(Strobel). Couple this arrangement with the thought of how much you sweat, generate heat and sometimes friction and
Toxic Bed, 3 the chemical equation can be exacerbated depending on your size. Size would also come into the equation relative to the doses of chemicals relative to a small child or baby.
It is rather difficult to get dosage answers as manufacturers of beds and bed products use many different names for the same chemical, for example, the chemical Antimony Trioxide may have as many as twenty- nine different synonyms all referring to the product that is placed within our mattress. The dose or quantity of Boric Acid is also difficult to find out, but according to a web campaign of concerned citizens trying to get the law changed, they calculate that if the
“label tells us the mattress contains: 47% Urethane Foam, 39% Treated Cotton, 13% Polyester
Fiber. (Then) By weighing the cotton batting in the mattress and assuming 10% Boric Acid by weight, Boric Acid treated mattresses would contain the following amount of Boric Acid in each mattress: (3) Amount of Boric Acid in Mattresses by Size
Size
Pounds
Grams
Ounces
King
1.8
824
29
Queen
1.5
659
23
Full
1.2
553
20
Twin
0.9
386
14”
(previous text and table quoted Strobel) The investigation by Strobel, founder of the people for clean beds and owner of a clean bed manufacturing plant continues to state that the boric acid is not bound in any way so that it could disassociate and easily be breathed in by the sleeper. But another, more scientific entity (Laverge) recently performed their research and
Toxic Bed, 4 suggests that although indeed the toxic chemicals listed above are present in your mattress, it is their conclusion that the heat generated by a human being sleeping actually dilutes or breaks down the chemicals… “The results show that human metabolism and corresponding heat release by the human body are dominant factors in the dilution of pollutants emitted in close proximity of the nose, reducing exposure by 40% compared to a case without metabolic heat output. This effect is more important than the sleep position. An important finding is that sleeping with the head under the covers increases intake by a factor 24 and results in a rebreathing rate of over
60%” (Laverge). This study used robotic breathing machines to simulate human beings, this certainly cannot mimic a human who may or may not already have acquired a toxic body burden.
Our individual toxic body burdens are probably the most confusing part of this issue, for example, if Sally is already toxic from working in a factory that makes plastic shelving, her toxic bed is going to aggravate her right away, and the same bed may not bother her husband, who is a health nut Olympian swimmer. But the toxins will still be there in his system, as a chronic and slow releasing drip of chemical ions that his kidney and liver will eventually be overwhelmed by.
The most disturbing part is that the chemicals that have been mandated by law to be in our mattress is ineffective at preventing death from fires, because most deaths result from the inhalation of toxic fumes.
Science Daily produced an article recently that suggests that fumes from toxic chemicals applied to bedding cause death before the actual fire consumes a person, as reported to them by
National Meeting & Exposition of the American Chemical Society (ACS), the researcher and Dr,
Anna A. Stec, Ph.D., illustrated that “"Halogen-based flame retardants are effective in reducing the ignitability of materials," Stec said.
"We found, however, that flame retardants have the undesirable effect of increasing the amounts of carbon monoxide and hydrogen cyanide released
Toxic Bed, 5 during combustion. These gases, not the thermal effects of burns on the body, are the No. 1 cause of fire deaths” (Stec). This is proof positive that they very event these chemicals were implemented to prevent is still an issue and that the cure is quite possibly more disastrous than the cause. Does it really makes sense to poison millions of people to save the few that are choosing to poison themselves voluntarily with cigarettes? Purchasing a customized Organic bed is a very expensive choice (almost 5,000), but of course, creating the conditions in the body for a bout of cancer is also expensive. There is a third answer, and it works for anyone! Just build your own bed out of non-treated wood, make a raised platform and either get an organic bed topper from Ikea (might need two or three) or just buy numerous organic blankets and sew them together to desired firmness. After your sheets, pillows and comforter are in place, no one is the wiser, and you can have a very safe place to sleep!
References
Laverge J, Novoselac A, Corsi R, Janssens A, Experimental assessment of exposure to gaseous pollutants from mattresses and pillows while asleep, Building and Environment (2012), doi:10.1016/j.buildenv.2012.08.020. Strobel,Mark director of www.PeopleForCleanBeds.org and www.Strobel.com , 3131 Industrial
Parkway, Jeffersonville IN 47130
Stec, quotes are from Science daily….
American Chemical Society (ACS) (2012, March 27). Some flame retardants make fires
Toxic Bed, 6 more deadly. ScienceDaily. Retrieved September 2, 2012, from http://www.sciencedaily.com /releases/2012/03/120327134240.htm