Today at Momscape.com: New Articles | New Coupon Codes | New Product Reviews

Momscape.com
Momscape
Coupons | Product Reviews | Contests | Articles | Forums | Search | Subscribe
Family Fun | Parenting Tips | Romance | Health & Fitness | Organic Living | Weight Loss | WAHMs

Welcome Momscapers!

momscapeMomscape.com is an award winning online magazine delivering uplifting personal essays from real parents - plus practical guidance on parenting, family funromance, travel, health & fitness, weight loss, and more.
 
Parenting Journals Editor“s Choice

We invite you to share your MamaWisdom and to help us spotlight products that make your life as a mom easier or better while you enjoy our money-saving online coupons and family travel discounts.

We want to help you enjoy the simple (and fine) things life has to offer.

Subscribe to Momscape >
or
Get Our Daily Coupon Updates by Email

Bookmark and share Momscape with your friends:



Today:

Online Coupons
Today's Favorite Coupons

All Online Coupons by Store

All Online Coupons by Category

Printable Grocery Coupons

Product Reviews
Momscape's Favorite Things (Blog)

Top-Rated Mom Product Reviews

Family Fun
Activities & Crafts

Family Travel Deals

Free Scrapbooking Ideas

Parenting Articles
Baby Tips

Toddler Tips

All Parenting Articles

Inspiration/Essays

Relationships
Marriage

Romance

Friendships

Health and Fitness
Fitness Tips

Natural Living

Nurturing Your Spirit

Weight Loss

Professional
Family Manager Tips

Home-Based Business

Community

MamaWisdom Forums

About Momscape
Subscribe
Site Map
Links
Link to Us
Privacy Policy
Terms of Service
About us
Contact Us

Organic Mattress Info: Why Your Mattress May Be Killing You 

by Mark Sweiger

The organic movement, which started with organic food, is moving to the bedroom in a big way. "The bedroom? " you say. Yes, my dear, the bedroom, where organic mattresses and organic bedding are becoming an important new trend in the quest for a healthier lifestyle.

The organic bedroom trend is motivated by some very recent disturbing discoveries about the petroleum-based foam mattresses most of us sleep on every night. Studies of household dust have confirmed that your mattress is likely one of the most significant sources of cancer-causing chemicals in your home. The average mattress consists of petroleum-based foam covered in petroleum-based polyester fabric. During its 10-year average lifetime, a foam mattress loses up to half its weight, and the lost weight goes on your bedroom floor in the form of toxic dust and in the air in the form of formaldehyde gas which is a by-product of the foam breakdown. Those dust bunnies under your bed could be a real threat to your health, unless you use an organic mattress which does not break down into these toxic by-products.

The foam mattress story gets even more scary. The average petroleum-based foam queen-sized mattress is soaked in about a pound of fire retardant chemicals called PDBEs, which have already been banned in Europe, but not in North America. PDBEs are chemicals which are similar to the banned PCBs, and they build up in the body like DDT and PCBs. The PDBEs are used because they are the simplest and cheapest way to conform to United States mattress fire resistance codes. They are also promoted by the chemical industry, which recently sponsored tightening of the mattress fire resistance codes, which will cause even greater quantities of PDBEs to be used in the manufacture of mattresses beginning in 2006. While these new codes will save an estimated 27 lives a year from fires, these new regulations play Russian roulette with the future health of the 285 million Americans that sleep on these petroleum-based foam mattresses. Those calling for a ban on PDBEs say the greater danger is not the lives lost in fires, but the potentially millions of cases of cancer caused by exposure to these chemicals over the coming decades.

The solution to this problem is to remove petroleum-based bedding from your home, and this has spawned the burgeoning organic bedroom movement. The cornerstone of this trend is the organic mattress, which is the same kind of mattresses our ancestors used before the rise of the petrochemical industry after World War II. It is also interesting to note that current cancer rates are more than 5 times higher than before World War II, when everybody was sleeping on organic mattresses by definition, because there was no petrochemical industry during those times.

Examples of an organic mattress include:

1. Organic cotton and wool batting innerspring mattresses with an organic cotton fabric cover. Wool is naturally fire retardant and meets all US fire codes.

2. A Natural latex mattress, whose foam is made from the latex sap of the rubber tree and which require no fire retardants because natural rubber does not burn well.

3. Luxury organic mattresses which use combination of all three materials, organic cotton, wool, and latex, to produce maximum comfort mattresses that rival any non-organic mattresses.

4. All organic cotton mattresses. Although cotton does not burn well, it requires a doctor?s prescription because cotton does not meet US fire resistance codes.
Organic mattresses also have comfort advantages over traditional petroleum-based foam mattresses. They wick away moisture from the body much more thoroughly than clammy polyester and man-made foam, stopping night sweating and cutting down on problems like athlete?s foot and jock itch. Wool also regulates body temperature very well, which is important for a restful sleep. Natural latex foam and wool are resistant to dust mites, which cause allergies in many people, and organic cotton and latex foam are both hypoallergenic materials. Organic mattresses are also considered a must for people with chemical sensitivities.

Major North American manufacturers of organic mattresses include Vivetique/Crown City Mattress, located in South El Monte, California, Royal Pedic, headquartered in Beverly Hills, California, and Obasan, located in Ottawa, Canada. Retailers of organic mattresses include a variety of local mattress stores who carry products from these manufacturers, and nationwide web retailers, like Dax Stores, which often have the best prices for these mattresses.
 
About the author: 
Mark Sweiger is a freelance reporter on home and garden topics and ecological news, and he can be reached via email at
msweiger@NOSPAMearthlink.net. He is a definite believer in the value of organic sheets and organic mattresses (see http://www.daxstores.com/organic-bedding.html and http://www.daxstores.com/organic-mattresses.html for a further introduction to these).

More Information on Organic Bedding and Mattresses

Bookmark and share this page with your friends:
 


Join Momscape today! It's easy and free.

:
:



Free eco-living tips
Ideal Bite is the ultimate online source for free, fun eco-living tips served each day via email. Green gurus dish out clever tips ranging from pets to wine. The approach is real and really fun. Ideal Bite is a sassier shade of green. And they just launched a special new edition for Moms - called Mama Bite. Subscribe here for free >







Moms are Raving About


Prairie Kari Soy & Beeswax Candles

Mean Green Household Cleaner 

Seventh Generation Cleaning and Paper Products 

Dr. Bonner's Soap

ECover Cleaning Products 

Mrs. Meyer's Clean Day Cleaning Products Line

Act Natural Microfiber Mop

Pure Citrus Air Freshener

Sedu Flat Iron

Alba Botanicals Pineapple Enzyme Facial Cleanser

Burt's Bees Milk and Honey Body Lotion

Coupon Codes: Folica.com


Coupon Codes: MotherNature.com 

Coupon Codes: Vitamin Shoppe

Coupon Codes: Gaiam.com

Coupon Codes: Organic Style

Copyright 2008 Momscape.com All Rights Reserved

Coupons, Coupon Codes, and Promotion from our favorite online stores:
By Store: Amazon.com | American Express | Artful Home| Audible.com | Avon |Babies R Us | Baby Center | Baby Universe | Beauty.com | Best Buy | Blue Nile | Brooks Brothers | Buy.com | Children's Place | Chadwicks | Circuit City | Cooking.com | Dell Coupons | Dick Blick | DirecTV Promotions | Disney Shopping | Ebags.com | Endless Shoes | Entertainment Books  | Event Tickets | Folica.com | Franklin Covey | Gap | Gile Toys | Hearthsong  | Hotels.com | Joann Fabrics | KB Toys | Kohls | Koo Koo Bear Kids | Leaps and Bounds | Lens.com | Lids.com | Lillian Vernon | MotherNature.com | Netflix | Office Depot | Old Navy | One Step Ahead | Oriental Trading | Overstock | PetCo | PetsMart | Photoworks | Priceline Coupons | Red Envelope | Restaurant.com | Sears.com | Sharper Image | Shoebuy | ShopNBC
| SkinStore.com | Sierra Trading Post  | Smartbargains  | Snapfish | SpaFinder.com | SpaLook.com | Staples | Target | Travelocity | Victoria's Secret | Vitamin Shoppe | Wal-Mart | Warm Biscuit Bedding | Weight Watchers | Westin Hotels | Wine.com | Zappos | 1-800-Flowers | 1-800-Contacts| More >
View All Coupons by Category >