A Petrochemical Death

Like the food we put into our mouths, our skin also eats. The skin is the largest organ of the body, and certainly the most vulnerable entry point for toxins to wreak havoc on our system. Compounds that enter through our skin enter directly into the bloodstream whereas compounds that pass through our mouths encounter barriers in the form of digestion and absorption, decreasing the likelihood of pathogens and toxins entering our bloodstream in strenuous amounts.

Logically, the items we clothe ourselves with and sleep on must certainly impact our overall well-being. Natural materials, attributed to cotton, silk, wool, linen, and any other material that comes from mother nature without human alteration, have been highly sought after and valued since the dawn of time. The Holy Bible emphasizes natural materials like linen, its reference in Revelations 19:8 referring to linen as a symbol for righteousness reserved for God’s holy people. However, this modern era has turned in the opposite direction, relying on man-made petroleum by products, propagating a cheap and abundant environment focused on profit. This response has triggered unintended consequences in the form of petrochemicals in our environment.

Petrochemicals, defined as a vast array of chemicals obtained from petroleum or natural gas, not only exist in our environment at alarming rates, but serve as a basis for many commercial products, including the mattress and bedding industry.

When subjected to an abundance of synthetic chemicals in a concentrated area, it triggers chemical irritation leading to a host of disorders in the body. This phenomenon has been coined a term, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity (MCS), which may have been laughed at decades ago, but now recognized by 22 federal agencies, encompasses a concoction of symptoms such as nausea, coughing, shortness of breath that are associated with exposure to petroleum based, synthetic materials.

Volatile organic compounds (VOC’s) are simply gasses that are discharged into the air from products, many known to cause cancer, like formaldehyde.

Flame retardants, counterintuitive to its name, provide no help because of the unintended health consequences. They contribute a host of chemicals with the purpose of slowing a fire, if present.

To date, 120,000 man-made chemicals exist in our environment. Man made chemical’s take something out of its naturally occurring state in nature and refigure compounds in elements in ways that nature would not. A host of man-made chemicals circulate in our environment, from synthetic organic chemicals (e.g. pesticides) to volatile organic chemicals (e.g. gasoline).

Unfortunately, despite many chemicals being recognized as carcinogens, they still lurk in our environment, and more importantly, in our bodies. For instance, DDT, a synthetic insecticide associated with adverse reproductive effects in humans. DDT has been banned since 1972 yet somehow according to the EPA, 99% of the population has some level of DDT in their blood to this day. Carcinogenic chemicals lurk all over our environment knowingly, but perhaps unknowingly, we find them within places we take for granted, like our clothing and mattresses.

A culprit for such toxic exposure can be found in the chemical laden bedding we rely on for comfort every night. Walter Bader, in his book, Toxic Bedrooms, puts it succinctly, “while your mattress label may tell you what your mattress is made of, it does not tell you what those materials are made from.”

Some other notable materials that make their way into our mattresses are vinyl chloride monomers, TDI’s, and boric acid.

Vinyl chloride monomers, a colorless gas, are classified as a human carcinogen, associated with liver damage, blood disorders, and breathing problems.

Toluene Diisocyanate (TDI), the prominent chemical used in the production of polyurethane foam (also known as “memory foam”), leads the industry in mattress sales. This chemical represents a labeled carcinogen, known for its respiratory problems, such as bronchitis and asthma.

After learning the origin of boric acid, it will cause a fit, and in return, will dissuade and denounce consumers from accepting its appearance in our everyday items, like mattresses and clothing. Boric acid is a roach powder, often used in mattresses. Ensuing conditions are liver, kidney, and reproductive problems.

Truth be told, manufacturers who succumb to using petrochemicals in their products know the dangers but appear clever at the end of the day. They sell their products with small tags, and large jargon filled manuals. As consumers, we have this implicit bias that gives manufacturers the benefit of the doubt. We draw ourselves to the aesthetic appeal and the product’s practical use. Increasing confusing verbiage increases the chances consumers won’t look into the source of these materials. Who has time to investigate toluene diisocyanates or vinyl chloride monomers? The petrochemical industry’s ‘dirty little secret’ creates distortion and confusion intentionally, making consumers overlook their dubious labeling practices. Taking caution to what our label reads becomes secondary, tertiary, or nonexistent when we do not know the repercussions of the materials in what we buy.

Even if you do your due diligence regarding your petrochemical of concern, your standard google search results in a barrage of information, some more threatening than others, leaving you more confused than when you started seeking information on this mysterious chemical embedded in your mattress. The term petrochemical needs to be dumbed down to a simple phrase: petrochemicals equals bad. Yes, it’s that simple.

A great fear of the health conscious, anti-chemical population is the refusal of compliance from industry. Post World War II stands out as a pivotal point in history in which man made chemicals not only reached a premium but started to be mindlessly applied to products, like furniture, that had no business being treated like such. Nor was there even a need, other than for these gargantuan companies to keep their cash flow intact to impress wall street.

In 2013, Monsanto, a prominent agrochemical company, received backlash over the safety of their most revenue generating product, roundup, which contains the controversial herbicide glyphosate. They made several proclamations to the public about the safety of glyphosate, yet in 2015, the WHO (World Health Organization) publicly classified glyphosate as a carcinogen. Despite this, the product roundup still dominates the marketplace as the prevailing product to kill weeds. Glyphosate coming to the forefront of the public as a carcinogen still didn’t ruffle the feathers of industry. Who then will seriously entertain foreign concepts like multiple chemical sensitivity, indoor air pollution and outgassing? Particularly, as it pertains to our furniture, the mattresses in which we spend one third of our lives on.

In lieu of this lived petrochemical nightmare, the average consumer must look elsewhere for reliable, independently tested products. Pesticide free natural fibers, organic backed products demand respect as the new norm. The market consists of valuable certifications, instrumental toward promoting health on a consumer and producer level. GOTS-certified is a label gaining notoriety as it pertains to mattresses, bedding, and clothing. The Global Organic Textile Standard (GOTS) ensures organic fibers. Suitable to consumer needs, their website provides a certified suppliers database in which an individual can search for anything from clothing to footwear that possesses the GOTS certification.

In pursuit of healthful products, an emphasis should be placed on greenwashing. This term relates to an intended deceit or misrepresentation of a product alluring consumers to believe the product may be more healthful than its reality. Greenwashing serves as a reason for why consumers find it so difficult to make impactful decisions for the environment and for their health. Blanket terms such as eco-friendly, recyclable, provides energy, mean nothing in the grand scheme of things. Claims don’t mean anything. Rather, the emphasis should be placed on looking for products with a GOTS certification, the gold standard certification as it relates to cotton material. This certification should persist in as many products as possible inside the home because of the evidence surrounding pollutants in our indoor environment.

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 filter 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 led 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. The polyurethane foam industry continually adheres to cheapness and convenience at the expense of human health. They accrue sales at the end of the day, but ultimately sell us short in the safety of their products.

Nothing short of disturbing, the memory foam mattress industry continues to dodge concerns about the safety of their own products. Recently, in 2021, a class action lawsuit occurred as the safety of Zinus’ products came into question. Specifically, fiberglass, an invasive material in their ‘bed in the box’ product, deserves second thought. This culprit known as fiberglass possesses a plastic texture and appearance coupled with the strength of glass deemed for its fire-resistant capabilities. Remiss in its practicality for bed usage during its manufacturing process, the class action lawsuit claimed families spent an average of $15,000 to remove all fiberglass. A victim described the experience as having “dust settle everywhere… only it was glass” with complications of itching and coughing, ultimately the side effects becoming so debilitating that the family lived in a hotel until all fiberglass was removed from the home. Another family spent “tens of thousands tens of dollars in property damage and spent more than $20,000 for professional remediation services after buying a Zinus memory foam mattress.” As it stands, Zinus’ product, their queen sized ‘Green Tea’ memory foam mattress, attracts more than 130,000 viewers, rated at 4.4 out of 5 stars, and trades at approximately $310 on Amazon.

Rather than take onus regarding the health concerns of their product(s), Zinus deflected blame on the consumers. Zinus believes consumers time after time damage the outer cover without heeding to the products labels, leading to fiberglass disbursement in the home. Furthermore, a statement from Zinus reads “The material that we use to comply with fire safety regulations is standard in the mattress industry, and the Consumer Product Safety Commission has found that this material is not considered hazardous.” To self purport this toxic material as standard across the industry epitomizes the fallacy in a world with an increasing reliance on low-cost material.

Unfortunately, petroleum products don’t follow the sentiment of our legal system, ‘innocent until proven guilty.’ Zinus defends their use of fiberglass and other petroleum based products in this disparaging manner. Since memory foam has become the staple of the industry in the modern era, the 2015 report published by the EPA clearly needs more light drawn to it. The 800 page report documents how flame retardants in polyurethane foams derails human health, leading to a slew of symptoms such as those associated with the respiratory system, immune system, eyes and skin. To the inconvenience of the industry’s best selling polyurethane foam, the EPA’s report found flame retardants increase the odds of developing cancer and neurobehavioral disorders, like autism. The phenomenon of adolescents developing neurobehavioral disorders at alarming rates remains prevalent in modern society, and a vast majority of the burden can be placed on petrochemicals and industry’s increasing reliance on them to make a wider margin of profit. Undoubtedly, the usage of petrochemicals in our bedding necessitates a more serious approach in lieu of the EPA’s report nearly a decade ago.

A miniscule 5-10% of cancers come from genetics, thus our environment cannot be overlooked. Our environment remains the difference between health and disease. Our indoor environment is 10-100 times more toxic than the air outside, leading to more chemicals coming into contact with our skin and lungs. A natural solution to this toxic indoor environment comes in the form of substituting a memory foam mattress for a natural rubber organic mattress. Walter Bader, author of Toxic Bedrooms, attests that a natural rubber organic mattress produces 95% less chemical emissions than its counterpart, memory foam. Resorting to material that has roamed our world since the dawn of time, rubber comes from the sap of trees, and has advantageous properties such as elasticity and strength. Unfortunately, most people consume an industrialized, highly processed version, but let it be known that natural rubber exists in a non-toxic form from the very trees of this earth.

Proponents of petrochemical based items, such as memory foam mattresses argue there’s no adequate alternative. This myth couldn’t possibly be further from the truth. In addition to the natural rubber organic mattress previously mentioned, options include pure organic wool and certified organic cotton. Independent third party testing ensures delivery on the promise of top tier ingredients. These methods also stray from dyes, which when added to a product in a synthetic manner, promote symptoms such as difficulty breathing and burning sensations to the eyes and throat.

Approximately 2,000 new chemicals get introduced to our environment on a yearly basis, yet the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) reviews only a minimum of 20 of those chemicals at a time, having a seven year deadline, resulting in industry having a cushion of five years to account for banning carcinogenic chemicals. Given the extensive timeframe the EPA has to evaluate such chemicals and make proper adjustments, this entire process exudes superficialness. No urgency in the process, and in the meanwhile, our livers are asked to detoxify at rates they have never before, straying away from homeostatic principles the human body thrives on.

This generation marks the first of its kind, one that will not outlive its previous generation. For quite some time now, scientists have elongated life spans through chemical means, but even the brightest minds cannot outsmart biology. Man made interventions take us only so far.

Our current system puts band aids on bullet holes. Symptomatic people get ignored. Interventions, guidelines, and policies only surface at the sight of an emergency. Our toxic laden world has become so normalized that it has drowned out the noise of our own common sense. Feeble leadership at the helm of petrochemical industries has promoted distrust and confusion, straying away from core business tenets such as integrity, responsibility, and transparency. Malfeasance will always concern the hierarchies, creating the need to vote with our dollar on an individual basis to enact change to move away from petrochemicals and back to our natural environment consisting of natural material, free from pesticide usage.

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