Michelle from didn’t leave a city asks…..
“Would you have any information regarding what type of memory foam is used in an infant product designed to elevate and secure an infant from birth to six months in the crib as described in One Step Ahead (can be viewed online), a catalog of baby products? It claims to be safe but I purchased one and the odor is quite strong. I am reluctant to let my newborn sleep on this.
Thank you in advance for your time.”
Answer: Memory foams are made from petroleum based chemicals and a slew of others. The odor, or off-gassing has been a major complaint among many. www.chem-tox.com/guest/guestbook.html
Personally I would not place my infant in any mattress that had an odor let alone a strong chemical odor but i’m a no health professional. 
I would go with a 100% natural latex, rubber or organic cotton mattress with organic fabrics for a baby or one of Essentia’s Bio mattresses for a toddler.
All mattresses sold in the U.S.A are required to pass fire tests.
Chemical fire retardants should be avoided at all costs because they’ve been linked to all kinds of things like SIDS, cancer, learning and memory deficit as well as heart, lung and kidney damage. www.peopleforcleanbeds.org or www.essentiadirect.com/research/fire-retardants. Wools are natural fire retardants and often used in mattresses as fire retardants. Another option would be to get a doctors note which allows you to purchase a mattress without FR.
Read reviews and take your time in choosing a baby mattress because their developing bodies are very delicate.
2 responses so far ↓
1 Antonin Scarpini // Apr 10, 2008 at 8:50 am
Can you tell me of a case where anyone has gotten sick from lying on their mattress?
The fact is, this is a lot of hogwash. There is no credible science that suggests fire retardants are bad.
If there was, you would post it here.
Furthermore, fire fighters and burn doctors, when confronted with this silly allegation, dismiss it.
The fact is, the stuff in a nursery burns like crazy in a fire… to not offer your children fire protection because some on the extreme left wing of society make outrageous allegations is frightening.
By the way, the citations above are likely marketing campaigns by organic bed manufacturers so they can dupe people into buying their products.
Let’s hope people who read this really think this issue through before they expose their kids to the real danger — fire in the home.
2 jason // Apr 10, 2008 at 9:42 am
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/HEC/HSPH/v8n1-1.html
http://www.wrppn.org/foam/mattresscasestudy2.pdf
http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxprofiles/tp80-c1.pdf
http://www.peopleforcleanbeds.org
http://www.essentiadirect.com/research/glues-toxic-components
Your decision could potentially affect the health of your family. The feedback from users on http://www.chem-tox.com/guest/guestbook.html is one hell of a long list.
I don’t feel everything around us from couches to carpets and our beds which it put our faces in for 8hrs/night should be laden with chemicals.
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