Wool vs Other Materials

Highly toxic flame-retardant chemicals like polybrominated diphenyl ether, known as PBDEs. PBDEs, which have been banned in Canada, Europe and several states, build up in your body over time, and what you absorb or inhale does not go away. This is concerning not only because of the health problems PBDE is associated with (brain and reproductive damage, decreased sperm quality, thyroid problems and even cancer at high levels), but also because of how pervasive these chemicals have become.

PBDEs are not only in mattresses, they’re also in furniture and countless other household products. Not surprisingly, the chemicals are now showing up in breast milk, blood tests and even umbilical-cord blood and livers of fetuses.

Other flame-retardant chemicals currently approved for use in mattresses include:

• Boric acid, a toxic respiratory irritant used to kill roaches
• Antimony, a metal that may be more toxic than mercury
• Formaldehyde, which causes cancer

Boron is used in a range of industries, as a dopant, abrasive, and ingredient in propellant mixtures, among other things.

Pure boron is not itself harmful, although many of the forms in which it appears are toxic or somewhat toxic. It may naturally appear in blends of toxic material, which can make handling some forms of boron rather harmful. In addition, boron extraction generates harmful waste, since it must be heavily treated to extract a usable pure form. Even when this material is handled responsibly, it represents a potential environmental problem, as toxins are difficult to break down into a safe and stable form.

Antimony resembles Arsenic very closely; the difference in its behavior being almost entirely accounted for by the fact that antimony is slightly more metallic. This helps explain why it is so poisonous.

Quotes from ATSDR a division of the CDC on Antimony:

"An increase in the number of spontaneous abortions, disturbances in menstruation, failure to conceive, May cause heart to beat irregularly or stop. … Chronic Exposure: Prolonged or repeated exposure may damage the liver and the heart muscle."

“In long-term studies, animals that breathed very low levels of antimony had eye irritation, hair loss, lung damage, and heart problems. Problems with fertility were also noted.”

"Two studies reported lung tumors in rats exposed to relatively low levels of antimony trioxide." Antimony tends to accumulate in the liver and gastrointestinal tract.”

The CDC cannot determine a safe level of Antimony exposure because:

“At the lowest exposure levels tested, the adversity of the effects was considered to be serious.” On cancer risks of Antimony even the CPSC admits:  “The cancer effects are cumulative. Every exposure contributes to the overall lifetime risk of developing cancer.”

In their Jan-06 Risk Assessment the CPSC - Consumer Product Safety Commission - proves the average adult will absorb a daily dose of .802 mg of Antimony (Arsenic), .081 mg Boric Acid (Roach Killer), and .073 mg DBDPO (Deca) from flame proof mattresses, every night. Plus they say five year old children will absorb .5 mg Antimony every night, this is 63 times more poison than the EPA says is safe. Younger children were not studied.

On July 1, 2007, a new government law was passed by the CPSC that mandated the use of flame retardant chemicals in ALL consumer mattresses sold in America, including crib mattresses!

The purpose of this law is to reduce the risk of fire injury and that sounds like a noble and just cause…BUT, the problem is that the flame retardant chemicals that are being used in crib mattresses today are potentially dangerous and toxic to all humans, especially newborns.

These harsh chemicals can combine with a common household fungus (that often lives in mattresses) and lead to the production of toxic and deadly “nerve gases” that can have catastrophic consequences for a newborn. In some cases, this can be toxic enough to shut down a baby’s breathing in literally minutes, leading to SIDS.

Chemicals added to mattresses to meet the fire retardant standards do NOT have to be disclosed in any way! The mattress must just meet the fire retardant standard!

Boric Acid, is used as Roach Killer, is a known reproductive and developmental toxin, a known respiratory irritant, Demonstrated injury to the gonads and to the developing fetus. high prenatal mortality, Neonatal children are unusually susceptible. There are already 6,463 U.S. cases of Boric Acid poisoning each year. One human exposure study showed reduced sperm counts and reduced sexual activity in humans.

Though natural, untreated wool is scratchier than synthetic fabrics, wool is less susceptible to burning. The US Military through extensive studies use wool for uniforms and protective gear due to its natural resistant to fire.

"Wool burns with a self-extinguishing flame and produces a soft ash that dissipates and will not lodge in open wounds," says Jeanette M. Cardamone, a chemist at the ARS Eastern Regional Research CenterWyndmoor, Pennsylvania. “Synthetic materials, on the other hand, form hot, molten beads that can drip into a wound and cause trauma.” (ERRC) in

Increasing the value and versatility of domestic wool would benefit the U.S. sheep industry, which produces about 40 million pounds of raw wool a year. In addition, U.S. consumers—including the U.S. military and many law-enforcement agencies, which are required to use domestic wool in their uniforms and equipment—would enjoy the benefits of home-grown, soft, shrink-proof, fire-retardant wool

"Protecting U.S. Troops With Fireproof Wool" was published in the May/June 2008 issue of Agricultural Research magazine.