Get Answers: What Foam Mattress Should I Use?

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Get Answers: What Foam Mattress Should I Use?

Guest Blogger

Friday, October 08, 2010

QUESTION:

We want to get a foam mattress, but are confused about the different kinds of foam available. Can you just explain the difference between the foams and help us understand them?

ANSWER:

First, there are more than 150 different formulations of foams, so unless a manufacturer can tell you exactly what the foam is, you really can't find out what's in it.

But there are basically three kinds of foam with regards to choosing a mattress.

1. POLYURETHANE FOAM

This is made from polyol and diisocyanate. Both are petrochemicals. These are combined and passed down through a pipe into a nozzle head, Blasts of carbon dioxide make the foam. Memory foam is a visco-elastic polyurethane foam, still polyurethane. Polyurethane foams are typically very flammable and require fire retardants.

2. LATEX FOAM

This is made from natural latex (milk of the rubber tree) or synthetic latex (rubber made from crude oil). Almost all natural latex is processed into foam using sulfur.

3. SOY or BIO FOAM

This is polyurethane foam with some of the polyol replaced with soy oil, or is a mixture of soy with other oils, such as corn and sunflower. These foams are typically 5-50% natural oils.

If one wanted a foam mattresses, latex foam would be the best of the three as it is the only one that is not polyurethane.

The best latex foam mattress I know of is made by Essentia. Take a look at http://www.myessentia.com/natural-foam and http://www.myessentia.com/research/glues-toxic-components. This company used to make latex foam until a family member got cancer, and they eliminated all the toxic chemicals from their process.

This answer was provided by our friend, Debra Lynn Dadd. Hailed as "The Queen of Green" by the New York Times, Debra Lynn Dadd has been a pioneering consumer advocate since 1982, specializing in products and lifestyle choices that are safer for human health and the environment. She is the author of Home Safe Home.

See all of our questions and answers at Get Answers. Do you have a question? Let us know!

Posted by Mary Kay McGowan on 11/05/2010 at 11:11 AM

Hi,

I just bought a “BOPPY” (support pillow for breast feeding) and when it arrived it was in plastic zipped packaging. When I opened it I was bowled over by the intense toxic odor. I called the company and they said it was just from the plastic packaging and the air should clear the smell away. I took the cover off the pillow and put my nose right up to the pillow, the intense chemical smell was definitely emmitting from within. I called the company and they said if I washed it the smell should go away. I washed it and after the first wash, when I opened the washer door the smell was pronounced and overpowering coming from my washer. I washed it for three more cycles until the smell disipated. It has only a faint odor if you are putting your nose right up to it. Is this product, which is made in China, potentially outgassing, even though I washed most of the odor away? WOuld you recommend my NOT using it with my newborn?

Thanks so much for any help you can offer!

Mary

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