# What's the deal with mattress outgassing? deemed evil/deadly/toxic..
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-mattress-outgassing-deemed-evil-deadly-toxic/693345
**Category:** Factual Questions
**Created:** [July 17, 2014, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-mattress-outgassing-deemed-evil-deadly-toxic/693345 "2014-07-17T09:17:09Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@beakernz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beakernz)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 9:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-mattress-outgassing-deemed-evil-deadly-toxic/693345/1 "2014-07-17T09:17:09Z")
My old bed is so worn out my back is freakin killing me. I have decided to get a new bed soon. I tried out a Sealy Posturepedic at the shop and it was very nice. It had the exact type of back support I was after. Anyway, when researching mattresses people on line discuss outgassing, and will have you feeling that a typical mattress is a fast track to agonizing death and disease via VOCs outgassing and absorbing into your skin while sleeping. I’m not sure anyone around me sells “natural” or “organic” beds so what choice do I have really… I have heard some say new beds only outgas for a few weeks and then the levels are so low it’s insignificant, so I figure I buy a floor model that has been sitting on the floor a while. But seeing comments like this:
> [@](#):
>
> Antimony (a heavy metal almost identical to Arsenic), Boric Acid (yes, the Roach Killer), Silicon (Silica Glass, a known respiratory hazard and carcinogen), Melamine, Formaldehyde, Decabromodiphenyl Oxide, and Ammonium Polyphosphate are the main chemicals being used by mattress manufacturers to meet the new state and federal flammability standards.
> The government has proven these chemicals leach to the surface of our mattresses and are absorbed by our bodies. They have proven we will absorb .8 mg of Antimony, and .08 mg of Boric Acid every day. We know Antimony accumulates in our bodies, is acutely toxic, and also causes cancer.
It makes me want to opt for something else less toxic, but then again I think a lot of these natural mattress companies could be flooding the net with this fud to scare paranoid people like me into buying their mattresses. Have there really been any studies to back any of this up? I know a lot of super fit and healthy folks… vibrant, full of energy, happy etc and they have a typical bed like everyone else. These damn internet sites make you feel like, ‘buy a new bed and you’re a dead man walkin’
I also wonder if a smell or odor even means ‘toxic’, just because there is a smell from a new product does this mean “toxic deadly gas”?
Also, some say get organic wool and latex non-toxic mattresses… but latex does not grow in giant blocks so isn’t this latex extruded and held together with “toxic” glue? I bought a “natural latex” pillow once and it smelled like hell.
What do you guys think? Thanks!
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 9:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-mattress-outgassing-deemed-evil-deadly-toxic/693345/2 "2014-07-17T09:50:11Z")
Ever notice how there’s _not_ millions of people dying from new mattresses?
There’s your answer.
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### Author:  [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 10:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-mattress-outgassing-deemed-evil-deadly-toxic/693345/3 "2014-07-17T10:09:20Z")
The only outgassing I’m concerned with is the one that happens after eating several slices of pepperoni and sausage pizza.
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### Author:  [@aruvqan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aruvqan)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 10:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-mattress-outgassing-deemed-evil-deadly-toxic/693345/4 "2014-07-17T10:21:57Z")
One of the worse smells associated with buying a new bed was the smell of the brand new futon - 100 % cotton, 100% cotton shell, 100% cotton mattress cover. Nasty. It took at lesat a month of taking it outside every day and laying it out on the table on the balcony in the sun to get it de-stenched. Our Sealey posturepedic smelled vaguely latex/vinylish for about 2 days and that was it. If given the choice, screw the natural futon and give me better living through modern chemsitry.
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### Author:  [@bob\_2](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bob_2)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 10:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-mattress-outgassing-deemed-evil-deadly-toxic/693345/5 "2014-07-17T10:50:59Z")
We have always covered our mattresses anyway. Cheap and easy, and just wash the cover every couple of months.
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### Author:  [@jtur88](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jtur88)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 1:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-mattress-outgassing-deemed-evil-deadly-toxic/693345/6 "2014-07-17T13:39:37Z")
You survived your old mattress, right?
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### Author:  [@Grey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grey)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-mattress-outgassing-deemed-evil-deadly-toxic/693345/7 "2014-07-17T13:55:14Z")
I have a hard time believing the 0.8 mg/day of Antimony. That would be about 0.3 g a year.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 1:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-mattress-outgassing-deemed-evil-deadly-toxic/693345/8 "2014-07-17T13:56:57Z")
> [@beakernz](#):
>
> What do you guys think? Thanks!
I think you should ignore claims about what “the government has proven” that are uncited.
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-mattress-outgassing-deemed-evil-deadly-toxic/693345/9 "2014-07-17T14:07:40Z")
There should be a new Rule 34 for the Internet – If it exists, there’s a claim it will kill you.
I’ve seen claims of lethal VOC attached to everything from carpeting to automotive dashboards to camping gear. We’ve apparently been exposed to them every hour of every day of our entire lives. If you’re really worried, leave your window open a crack at night.
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### Author:  [@DrCube](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrCube)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 3:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-mattress-outgassing-deemed-evil-deadly-toxic/693345/10 "2014-07-17T15:01:14Z")
My general rule is that if I read it on the internet, it’s wrong. It takes a lot to convince me otherwise.
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### Author:  [@Really\_Not\_All\_That\_Bright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Really_Not_All_That_Bright)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 3:11pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-mattress-outgassing-deemed-evil-deadly-toxic/693345/11 "2014-07-17T15:11:54Z")
So if you read your own post will you stop thinking that? 😉
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### Author:  [@running\_coach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/running_coach)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 3:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-mattress-outgassing-deemed-evil-deadly-toxic/693345/12 "2014-07-17T15:19:27Z")
> [@kunilou](#):
>
> There should be a new Rule 34 for the Internet – If it exists, there’s a claim it will kill you.
>
> I’ve seen claims of lethal VOC attached to everything from carpeting to automotive dashboards to camping gear. We’ve apparently been exposed to them every hour of every day of our entire lives.\*\* If you’re really worried, leave your window open a crack at night.\*\*
That’s how monsters get under your bed in the first place.
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### Author:  [@gnoitall](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gnoitall)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 3:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-mattress-outgassing-deemed-evil-deadly-toxic/693345/13 "2014-07-17T15:20:39Z")
> [@DrCube](#):
>
> My general rule is that if I read it on the internet, it’s wrong. It takes a lot to convince me otherwise.
My general position used to match yours, but I just read that on the internet (in your post), so now I have to seriously reconsider it. 😕
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### Author:  [@SmellMyWort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmellMyWort)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 3:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-mattress-outgassing-deemed-evil-deadly-toxic/693345/14 "2014-07-17T15:33:56Z")
Here is a link to my post from one of the last times mattress outgassing was discussed here. In my post there are several links you might find useful.
[Old post](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showpost.php?p=17018214&postcount=20).
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### Author:  [@Great\_Antibob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Great_Antibob)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 4:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-mattress-outgassing-deemed-evil-deadly-toxic/693345/15 "2014-07-17T16:25:25Z")
> [@gnoitall](#):
>
> My general position used to match yours, but I just read that on the internet (in your post), so now I have to seriously reconsider it. 😕
“All SDMB posters are liars”
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### Author:  [@Kent\_Clark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kent_Clark)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 4:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-mattress-outgassing-deemed-evil-deadly-toxic/693345/16 "2014-07-17T16:42:35Z")
> [@running\_coach](#):
>
> That’s how monsters get under your bed in the first place.
Don’t worry, the outgassing kills the monsters.
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### Author:  [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 4:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-mattress-outgassing-deemed-evil-deadly-toxic/693345/17 "2014-07-17T16:55:09Z")
I bought a new mattress a couple of months ago. The salesman warned me about outgassing and suggested that I jump around on it to break up the surface foam and release the gases more quickly. I didn’t do that. I stopped noticing the smell after a few days.
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### Author:  [@TruCelt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TruCelt)
#### Post date: [July 17, 2014, 5:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-mattress-outgassing-deemed-evil-deadly-toxic/693345/18 "2014-07-17T17:45:09Z")
I don’t know about toxic, but the smell of my memory foam when it first arrived was certainly evil. I had to leave the windows open for about a week, and even then I left my bedroom door shut and the windows open in there during the day.
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### Author:  [@Senegoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Senegoid)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2014, 1:32am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-mattress-outgassing-deemed-evil-deadly-toxic/693345/19 "2014-07-18T01:32:27Z")
> [@running\_coach](#):
>
> Ever notice how there’s _not_ millions of people dying from new mattresses?
> There’s your answer.
What there are not millions of, of course, are people who died from their new mattresses posting the revelation all over the net. 🙂 Make what you will of that.
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### Author:  [@beakernz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beakernz)
#### Post date: [July 18, 2014, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/whats-the-deal-with-mattress-outgassing-deemed-evil-deadly-toxic/693345/20 "2014-07-18T01:55:13Z")
I’m thinking about a latex mattress from these guys: [Heveya - Organic Latex Mattress](http://heveya.com/product_mattress.html)
Similar in price to a high end mattress, similar to memory foam without the outgassing. They also offer a 7 day trial, if returned you only pay 50% of shipping cost. Might be worth a shot.
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