For over five years, I’ve been on a quest to find a natural mattress for my family. It took a lot of research, time, and money. We couldn’t afford a healthier, natural mattress for a long time despite recognizing its importance. In the meantime, I discovered ways to improve the situation with our traditional mattress.
We spend about a third of our lives sleeping, so creating a safe sleep environment is just as crucial as focusing on nutrition, beauty products, and cleaning supplies. Many people don’t realize that their mattress might be exposing them to harmful chemicals. My research highlighted a few significant concerns:
Traditional mattresses often have chemicals used to make them flame-retardant, and newer ones are typically worse in this regard. These chemicals, found in a majority of people tested in the U.S., can accumulate in our bodies. While older mattresses, generally those made before 2007, may have fewer of these chemicals, they come with their own issues, like potential bacteria contributing to conditions like SIDS. Old mattresses can contain phosphorous, arsenic, and antimony, which fuel fungi that may produce toxic gases; such gases can be harmful, especially to infants.
Moreover, dust mites thrive in mattresses and pillows, feeding on dead skin cells. While they don’t bite or sting, many people are allergic to the allergens from their fecal matter and body fragments. It’s another reason to be cautious about mattress cleanliness.
There’s some debate about the role of mattress springs in amplifying EMFs, which some claim may contribute to certain cancers. Although the springs in mattresses might slightly increase EMFs, the bigger issue is our proximity to electronic devices, like routers and phones.
While I couldn’t immediately afford a non-toxic mattress, I worked to mitigate the issues with our older one. Since our mattress was purchased in 2006, I hoped it lacked the most harmful flame retardants. As it began to wear out, we added a natural topper for better comfort until we could purchase a new mattress.
Off-gassing is a significant concern with many mattresses, especially newer ones. The best remedy is a mattress free from toxic chemicals, but when that’s not possible, using a mattress encasement can help. New Zealand’s campaign to wrap mattresses in polyethylene encasements markedly reduced SIDS rates, showing that decreasing off-gassing matters.
Encasing adult mattresses is challenging, but some polyethylene covers offer protection against off-gassing. Although polyethylene is plastic with its issues, its benefits in reducing off-gassing outweigh the risks in my view. It also helps keep dust mites and allergens at bay. To further ease concerns about off-gassing and allergens, placing plastic sheeting under the encasement is a viable solution.
Addressing EMFs, I feel coils in mattresses are less urgent than addressing electronic devices nearby. We did try a down topper for comfort, which helped a bit, but a mattress encasement also extends the life of an older mattress.
Investing in a non-toxic mattress is ideal for health, but due to costs, it’s not feasible for every family, including ours in the past. These strategies helped prolong the life of our conventional mattress and minimize potential risks. Have you tried a natural mattress, or taken any steps to improve your sleep environment before getting one?
