Claim Back Your Health

Here’s the scoop: our toxic laden environment promotes cancer, disproportionately more potent in the setting of our homes. Reduced to the confines of the four walls of your room, petrochemicals become concentrated, thus being more liable to wreak havoc on human health. To understand why petrochemicals are so harmful to human health, it is necessary to understand not just what the materials are in your conventional mattress, bedding, and furniture, but what these materials are made from.

A study conducted at the Australian National University in Canberran examined the effect of natural versus synthetic bedding on children. Encompassing 863 children, an initial infant survey was conducted followed by an asthma study 7 years later. The majority of children were exposed to a single synthetic fiber type (64%) while about a third were exposed to natural-fiber bedding, and the rest had multi-synthetic fiber bedding. The results were startling: the children who slept in the multi-synthetic bedding were over two times more likely to develop wheezing in the night versus their counterparts with the natural fiber bedding.

There is an abundance of concern when it comes to an already vulnerable population such as infants, whose tolerance for toxic load is far less than that of an adult. In infancy, a child’s kidneys, your body’s main mechanism for filtrating toxins, are not yet fully developed. The introduction to an alarming number of petrochemicals when organs are still developing is nothing short of overload for this population.

Demonstrating the alarming rate at which petrochemicals in the 21st century appear in the environment, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) investigated the impact on the composition of breast milk in relation to fire retardants. In the assessment of the breast milk pertaining to mothers across the United States, it was concluded that “Milk from two study participants contained the highest levels of fire retardants ever reported in the United States, and milk from several of the mothers in EWG’s study had among the highest levels of these chemicals yet detected worldwide.” Of the 20 first time mothers accounted for, the amount of these specific flame retardants in their breast milk were 75 times greater than the average of all accounted for European studies at the time.

Further contributing to the problem is the chemical giant, Dupont. Their Teflon product is used for the purpose of being water and stain repellent, yet DuPont has been on the hook for $10.25 million for not disclosing the treacherous chemical in their product, perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA). DuPont’s lack of disclosure regarding PFOA was eventually discovered by The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA). The EPA faulted DuPont in these accusations for not properly disclosing the company studies DuPont possessed centered around the chemical PFOA. It was found that DuPont never released a company study that showed two out of every 5 babies born to DuPont plant employees had eye and face deformities, a common side effect of PFOA.

Illustrating the consequences of an unregulated mattress industry, it takes facing the health consequences before addressing the problem. Unfortunately, that’s what happened in the “Smelly Bed” recall in January of 2002, resulting in tens of thousands of mattresses being recalled due to TCA (trichloroanisole) contamination by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. This rascal of a chemical causes irritation with direct contact or inhalation, producing severe burns to the eyes and skin, accompanied with swelling of the lungs and throat. This bad batch of tens of thousands of mattresses came from polyurethane foam-based mattresses.

Not only are young children vulnerable from the standpoint of lacking the ability to filtrate toxins due to incomplete organ development, but also from a practicality standpoint. They breathe faster than the average adult, and they spend the majority of their day sleeping in crib mattresses. A study analyzing 20 crib mattresses sought to evaluate their potential toxic emissions. Volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) were measured at greater rates in polyurethane foam mattresses. These gasses vaporized at room temperature lead to symptoms such as nose, eye, throat, and lung irritation. As well, defects of the central nervous system, liver, and kidneys have been associated with VOC’s.

With all this evidence in opposition to petroleum based products, what can be offered as a solution? A review in the International Journal of Occupational & Environmental Medicine offers insight into the situation. They chronicle a multitude of evidence through epidemiological studies, longitudinal studies, and cross-sectional studies as it pertains to bedding and asthma. It is abundantly evident that synthetic fibers detract from respiratory health. Feather, a natural material, is comparatively stacked up against that of synthetic beddings and not only doesn’t induce asthma like qualities such as wheezing but offers evidence that it is supportive against asthma.

Astutely noted by Crane and Siebers, there are few publications as it relates to studying asthma in infancy and bedding. The data is scarce, but it’s promising. The first to demonstrate feather bedding material posing as a protective effect was Nafstad and company. They initiated a cohort study analyzing the effect of the type of duvet children were exposed to at 6, 12, and 24 months. The conclusion was by age 2 and 4, the children exposed to feather duvets were inversely associated with asthma and other respiratory problems.

Another study out of New Zealand examined whether feather duvets and feather pillowcases were effective in promoting respiratory health. At age 2, this cohort study monitored infants wheezing rates. At age 4, the impact of using feather duvets and pillowcases was studied as it related to the diagnosis of asthma. There were over 500 children monitored, and the minority of the children were sleeping with feather duvets and pillowcases. At both progress markers at 2 and 4 years old, it was found there was a statistical significance in the infants who used feather pillowcases and duvets in preventing wheezing and asthma compared to the infants who were not using feather bedding.

Within the confines of our homes, a consumer’s decision makes all the difference in procuring a restful and healthful sleep. Certainly, industry’s standards, especially in the U.S.A., don’t purposefully tell you what the material of your bedding is made from, but an educated consumer adopts a reductionist mindset. Petroleum based products are harmful to health, while natural fibers at its worst don’t trigger wheezing or asthma, and at its best promote respiratory function throughout a night’s rest.

References

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