What exactly is a non-toxic mattress? What makes our mattresses non-toxic? And does this mean that other mattresses ARE toxic?
These are great questions. And there is often a lot of confusion on this topic, as manufacturers often attempt to make their products appear better without fixing any of their underlying toxicity issues.
So here is it:
Put simply, we promise that our mattresses are made from start to finish without any harmful, toxic chemicals. Period.
Sounds great, right? But what does that mean specifically?
Chemicals You WON’T Find In a SleepLily Mattress
The following toxic chemicals are commonly found in other mattresses – even mattresses claiming to be “organic” and “natural”. But you won’t find any of these harmful chemicals in any of our SleepLily mattresses:
- No Flame Retardants
- No Polyurethane
- No Synthetic Latex
- No Vinyl
- No Antimony
- No Halogenated Flame Retardants (HFRs)
- No Perfluorinated compounds (PFCs)
- No Artificial Waterproofers
- No Harmful Chemicals. Period.
What’s incredible is that not only are these toxic chemicals largely unregulated in the U.S., but mattress manufacturers are not required to let you know if they are using them! This means that unless a manufacturer is specifically listing that they don’t use these chemicals, there is a good chance that they are.
Why Does Having a Non Toxic Mattress Matter?
The chemicals listed above – found in the majority of other mattresses – have been linked to many health issues.
Here’s a short list of problems that exposure to these chemicals can cause:
- Irritate the eye, nose, and throat
- Cause headaches
- Loss of coordination
- Nausea
- Damage the liver, kidney, and central nervous system.
- May cause cancer
- Trigger asthma and allergies
- Disrupt hormones
- Genital defects including male feminization
- Delayed puberty and reproductive development
- Disrupt thyroid hormones
- Neurobehavioral changes
How is “Non-Toxic” different from Organic, Natural, or Plant-Based?
We know that the phrase “non-toxic” doesn’t sound as flashy or as marketing friendly as the popular phrases “organic” or “natural” or “plant-based.” But the truth is that these popular phrases can be very deceiving.
“Organic” mattresses simply mean they are using some organic materials in manufacturing. They may still be processing those materials with harmful chemicals, then drenching the mattress in toxic flame retardants. Calling a mattress an “organic mattress” doesn’t mean it is free from the chemicals you want to avoid.
“Natural mattresses” could mean almost anything. Again, it is wonderful if the materials being used truly are “natural” and not being made in a laboratory, but this still doesn’t communicate whether of not harmful, toxic chemicals are being added during the process.
“Plant-Based” is perhaps the most deceiving phrase of all. This phrase is often used by mattresses companies that use “memory foam,” which is one of the biggest offenders in toxic chemicals. To try to make their mattresses sound more natural, they say that the foam is “plant-based.” The problem, though, is that there is no regulation around what percentage of plant-based materials must be used to call it “plant-based.” So manufacturers often use as little as 3% plant-based materials, and the remaining 97% is still petroleum-based.