A major mattress manufacturer says he's worried chemicals designed to protect people from fires may be poisonous, making the mattress as dangerous as the flames.
HEATHER CATALLO REPORTS IN THE VIDEO PLAYER ON THE RIGHT[ANCHOR]
A new regulation went into effect last July – that requires all new mattresses to survive a blow-torch test without catching fire.
But are the chemicals used inside the mattresses causing more harm than good?
Action News Investigator Heather Catallo has the story.
[HEATHER]
We’re all exposed to our mattresses for several hours every single night.
And now one mattress manufacturer says he's losing sleep over the fear that millions of people could be poisoned by the flame retardant chemicals in their own beds.
"This could be our greatest toxic disaster ever."
Mark Strobel is a mattress manufacturer. His factory in southern Indiana makes beds that meet the new federal government open-flame standard.
This is test footage of a Strobel mattress blasted with two blow-torches for about a minute.
He says -- the only way his mattresses can pass the blow-torch test.. is with toxic chemicals inside.
Mark Strobel
Mattress Manufacturer
"We continually find these flame retardants are harmful. We ban them one after the other.”
For several hours every night – you sleep with your skin pressed almost right up to your mattress. But what lies just below the surface?
In the Strobel mattresses – it’s a layer of cotton batting that serves as the flame resistant material.
And what makes it resist flame? A number of chemicals – including the active ingredient in roach killer.
It's boric acid -- a poison that the consumer product safety commission has now approved for use in bedding.
[Chief Bill Kramer (Ret.) – University of Cincinnati] "It sometimes is the only thing that will eradicate roaches from a building. It would not be something I would use as a first choice to create a flame retardant for a mattress."
Bill Kramer is a fire sciences professor at the University of Cincinnati – and he’s a retired fire chief.
He fears the flame retardant chemicals in new mattresses could do more harm than good.
[Chief Bill Kramer (Ret.) - U.C. Fire Science Prof.] "In their zeal to protect us from ourselves, some of these government agencies can go too far. Sometimes the cure they come up with is worse than the malady it's designed to correct."
[Patty Davis – CPSC] "We take our responsibility very seriously -- we are in the business of saving lives and protecting consumers."
When the Consumer Product Safety Commission instituted the tough new regulation last year.. it approved… but did not require -- the use of toxic chemicals.
[Patty Davis – CPSC] "In fact, there are many different options that don't include chemicals at all -- inherently flame resistant chemicals and naturally flame resistant materials."
[Mark Strobel - Mattress Manufacturer] "There's a lot of double talk in the mattress industry, but there's no chemical-free systems that pass this test.'
Mark Strobel says he puts poison in his mattresses. He says he doesn’t have a choice – because of the federal government.
In Strobel's mattresses.. the flame retardant is "antimony".. a suspected possible carcinogen in some animals. And antimony is now approved for use in mattresses by the cpsc.
[Strobel] "And the government proved those leach out of mattresses and you absorb them into your body."
[Patty Davis – CPSC] "We tested exposure to various chemicals and our scientists, the top in the field here in the United States, found an insignificant risk to consumers."
But the CPSC admits that some of the toxins are absorbed by the body every night.
And a review lab hired by the agency found serious flaws in its methodology.. questioning how the CPSC could simulate a lifetime of exposure.. the lab also questioned how the CPSC scientists decided on a higher maximum daily dose of antimony than other government agencies allow.
[Mark Strobel - Mattress Manufacturer] "It's proven you're going to absorb a daily dose that's 27 times than the EPA says is safe."
All new mattresses must survive this baptism by fire. Even crib mattresses.
Many of those also contain boric acid.. even though the boric acid label says "keep out of the reach of children."
Yet the CPSC's risk assessment specifically excluded babies and toddlers.
[Mark Strobel - Mattress Manufacturer] "They made the assumption all children under five will sleep on vinyl sheets due to bed wetting problems and that's going to protect them from the toxic chemicals in their mattress."
[Patty Davis – CPSC] "There is a far greater risk of dying in a mattress fire or being injured in a mattress fire as opposed to the risk of exposure. That's the bottom line."
[Dr. Michael Harbut/Toxicologist] “Low levels of antimony we don’t think are that dangerous – again we don’t know over years and years, what will happen if you breathe in low levels of antimony.”
Royal Oak toxicologist Dr. Michael Harbut says if you have a waterproof mattress pad – or plastic -- on your bed – you can minimize your exposure to these chemicals.
[Dr. Michael Harbut/Toxicologist] “Until we really know for sure that they’re completely safe, it’s probably a good idea to be prudent. Put on a mattress pad, seal up the mattress, be safe – don’t sleep on a bare mattress.”
The only way to get a new mattress without any flame retardant is by prescription. If your doctor or chiropractor prescribes a chemical-free bed.. some companies can make them for you –but it can be costly.
Meanwhile.. even if you ask.. manufacturers and retailers are *not* required to tell you if your mattress has toxins inside.
