With an increase in various organic choices available lately it is only natural that there are all organic mattress stores. These stores sell organic mattresses and bedding for children and adults. Organic mattresses and bedding can help you have a better night’s rest while helping you to improve your overall health.
Conventional mattresses are made of synthetic materials, usually polyurethane foam. These materials cause health risks. The chemicals that polyurethane foam is made of are known carcinogens. On top of that, polyurethane foam releases chemicals as it breaks down and since it is continuously breaking down it is always releasing chemicals into the air. This process is called off-gassing.
Chemicals used as flame retardants on conventional mattresses also increase health risks. These chemicals include boric acid, a chemical used to kill cockroaches. Boric acid is known to cause neurological damage and reproductive problems as well as being an eye, throat and lung irritant. Boric acid is also a carcinogenic agent. According to the CDC, exposure to boric acid can cause acute health problems in as little as 15 days.
Memory foam mattresses are comfortable, that is after you let them rest for 24 hours after removing them from their packaging. During those 24 hours the smell you notice coming from the mattress is extremely strong. The smell slowly decreases until you no longer notice it but off-gassing is still happening. The chemicals that are given off from memory foam can cause nausea and headaches to people who sleep in the same room with them.
Formaldehyde is used to treat non-organic cotton sheets and pillowcases to keep them from wrinkling. Labels do not need to include this information so consumers often have no idea that they are increasing their health risks by purchasing seemingly harmless items.
All organic mattress stores sell mattresses that are made of cotton, wool, wood, and natural rubber. These materials do not give off chemical vapors like their non-organic counterparts.
Latex foam is a natural material that comes from rubber tree sap. The sap is whipped into latex foam. Mattresses made of latex foam have an expected life of 20 years. This foam is comfortable but not breathable so foam rubber mattresses are padded with organic cotton or organic wool. Both materials breathe and wick away moisture which helps with temperature control.
In addition to mattresses, organic bedding is available in most organic mattress stores. Organic cotton or wool bedding can help to control body temperature during the summer and winter and increase overall comfort. Sleeping on natural materials can decrease allergic breathing problems, decrease snoring, increase circulation, and improve the overall quality of sleep.
Wool pads have been used in hospitals to reduce pressure and prevent bed sores for many years. Neonatal units have been using sheepskin pads to help infants control their body temperatures for more than a quarter of a century. The risk of SIDS is increased when infants sleep on mattresses that emit toxic chemicals. This risk is decreased when all organic materials are used instead.