Knowing what to believe is tricky. Polyurethane was created as a replacement for rubber, a material that was hard to get hold of during the war. Polyurethane is a type of plastic that is produced by combining methylene diphenyl diisocyanate MDI and toluene diisocyanate TDI with polyols.
This mixture is processed in different ways to make various, regularly used products. The foam is used in a wide range of places, some are hidden so many of us are not aware they are there. Foam mattresses, including memory foam mattresses, have become extremely popular for their affordability and softness. When it comes to baby products, polyurethane foam can be found in crib mattresses , playmats , changing pads and baby car seats.
Whether it should be used so freely in baby products is up for debate but there are strong arguments against it. With so much foam found in all of our homes, you would think that it was a tried and tested safe product. Indeed, when the material was first invented, it was considered a miracle product with limitless uses.
However, when it became widely used in household furniture, deaths linked to fires increased. The fact that the foam was highly flammable was found to be at the root of these fire tragedies. In response to these terrible deaths, safety standards for furniture were brought in. This is when flame retardant chemicals were added to the foam or coverings to stop the furniture from burning so ferociously.
This step dramatically reduced fire deaths, which was considered a triumph at the time. Those that were affected felt it was connected to their furniture and studies into the toxicity of foam were launched. Various studies over the years have looked into the concerns around health and polyurethane foam toxicity. It was revealed that common chemicals used in fire retardants were in fact carcinogenic meaning they contribute to the development of many different cancers.
It is well documented that these substances are harmful to people and the environment. Chemicals that are used are believed to cause breathing problems, affect the nervous system, damage the liver and kidneys, damage cells and affect the hormones, plus a whole lot more short-term effects. The following are commonly found in foam mattresses:.
The air that we breathe is likely to contain some of these chemicals at night if you have a foam mattress. The thought of having such a potentially dangerous material filling our furniture or insulating the walls of our homes is not good. They found a high amount of damaging additives in many products. Exposure to chemical additives in baby products is of even greater concern for infants, who are in intimate contact with these products for long periods of time, at very critical stages of their development.
In a nutshell, the study revealed that the fact that babies innocently put their fingers in their mouth puts them in greater danger. And the toxins they come into contact with can damage their development. It makes compelling reading. They discovered that changes and additions to the chemicals used in polyurethane foam were continually shifting. This makes it incredibly difficult for authorities to keep a track of what might be hazardous and what is safer.
It makes choosing the best baby products for your child almost impossible. The findings provide real food for thought. There are labels on baby products, and they often say they comply with various regulations and safety standards, including being fire resistant, but at what cost? When there are numerous studies all highlighting the dangers of the material, you might wonder, why is polyurethane used at all? They state that it is innate.
But can you trust that? Sadly, these factors combined will make it difficult to get to the truth of safety and health issues. Untruths, cover-ups and conspiracy theories will cloud the issues at every turn.
What you need to ask yourself is are you prepared to take the risk with your health? Do you want to wait and see if it affects your newborn baby? Very persuasive wording is used to sell baby items, but should you fall for the hype? If you feel let down by the use of toxic polyurethane foam in baby products, or are just not prepared to take the risk, there are alternatives.
Many of these have been produced by manufacturers who care about health and the environment hand in hand. Non-toxic mattresses and non-toxic crib mattresses are out there, you just need to know what to look for. In theory, this should make it easier to decide whether to push for testing. However, manufacturers can still ask for confidentiality if the name of a chemical might reveal to competitors how it is produced. While the new law clearly improves some aspects of TSCA, it is still not enough to make our homes and workplaces completely safe from toxic chemicals.
The Union of Concerned Scientists points out that, under the new rules, it would take the EPA about 50 years to test the most dangerous chemicals on their list. The new law will also need plenty of extra funding, but so far it is unclear where this is expected to come from.
The new version takes away the requirement for foam to pass the open flame test, and now only requires it to pass a smoldering test.
This change was made in response to evidence that most fires involving polyurethane foam furniture actually start as a result of smoldering heat sources. Requiring foam to pass the strict open flame test was seen as overkill and a likely contributor to the amounts of toxic flame retardants used by manufacturers. Unfortunately, manufacturers do not appear to be moving quickly to reduce the amounts of flame retardants they use. Changing their suppliers and production methods would, after all, be expensive.
Duke University currently offers a free testing service to identify which flame retardants are present in furniture you already own. There is still no easy way for consumers to tell which chemicals different products contain. Ali Emerson is a writer who loves to share ideas. She has many years experience in education and is a trained Forest School Leader.
You can learn more about her at aliemerson. December 30th, Wind vs. May 5th, SolarCity vs. December 5th, The EPA reports that Americans throw away 1.
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Wind is more efficient, but solar is more practical. Many of these compounds can be nasty and cause health problems in high volume, but the amounts your mattress exhales are pretty small, and they get even smaller over time. Many other household sources, such as laminate flooring, emit these compounds.
These two compounds come together to make urethane linkages and make long molecules that repeat over and over—poly many urethanes. The specific VOCs that can come off of foam mattress vary a lot: tiny amounts of unreacted polyol or diisocyanate, the catalyst 2-ethyl-hexanoic acid , or toluene.
Many others can come off, as well. Our recent pick for the best online mattress for most people , the Leesa, is made of three foam layers , and the bottom two layers are polyurethane foam. So, these VOC limits are for adults, but what about for infants? Sleeping with a baby on a mattress you desperately ordered online at 2 a.
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