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You’ve likely heard some of the horror stories about the toxic fumes that some mattresses emit. Despite the risk, it’s hard to find an in-depth guide to the different toxic mattress symptoms. Our team spent dozens of hours researching all of the different possible signs that a person is suffering from a toxic mattress. Read on to see if any of these scary symptoms apply to you.
Common Toxic Mattress Symptoms
- Headaches
- Muscle pain
- Frequent nausea
- Itchy/sore throat and congestion
- Skin, nose, and eye irritation
- Chest tightness
- Difficulty breathing, possible asthma attacks
- Coughing
- Allergic reactions
- Dizziness and/or fatigue
- Sleepiness
- Lack of concentration and/or confusion
Even if there are no symptoms, decades of exposure to flame retardants, glue solvents, and many added chemicals used in mattress production can cause a variety of cancers (including respiratory tract cancers, leukemia) and damage to the heart, liver, central nervous system, and kidneys.
Off-Gassing and VOC Emissions
First off, we need to explain the two terms crucial to understanding mattress toxicity and the symptoms above.
Off-gassing
The definition of off-gassing is:
“give off a chemical, especially a harmful one, in the form of a gas”
Mattress off-gassing is typically described as releasing Volatile Organic Compounds (VOCs) into the air for a couple of weeks after purchase. Consumers notice off-gassing as a strong odor coming out of a new mattress.
It’s not just mattresses that release gasses like this, it’s also fresh paint, new furniture, new carpets, and many other synthetic materials.
Volatile Organic Compounds – VOCs
To break down the meaning of each word:
- Volatile – easily evaporating at normal temperatures (meaning that chemicals from the mattress will easily become gas and get out in the air)
- Organic – relating to or denoting compounds containing carbon and chiefly or ultimately of biological origin (“organic” in chemistry means a thing that contains carbon, which is found in living beings – it does not mean that it’s good for you. Petroleum comes from dead animals and plants, so it contains carbon and therefore is considered organic in chemistry. However, products made of petroleum are plastic, foams, and other artificial and harmful chemicals.)
- Compound – a substance formed from two or more elements chemically united in fixed proportions (it means that there’s not just one, but more different types of molecules that make a substance)
Off-gassing of VOCs in older mattresses
Even though mattress manufacturers say that their products stop off-gassing after two weeks or after a month, new research suggests that mattresses never really stop off-gassing. It’s just that the extremely strong odor is lost after a few weeks.
The VOCs keep being released into the air, especially when there’s body warmth and movement in the bed. VOCs evaporate at room temperatures, but when you’re sleeping, the elevated temperature and nightly tossing/turning increase their release even more.
Finally, really old mattresses might be causing a lot of the symptoms simply because they are really dirty and full of unwanted microorganisms and other disgusting things, which are of non-chemical origin. You’ll find more information on that below.
How to Know It’s The Mattress
A lot of the symptoms of a toxic mattress match other issues – you could have seasonal allergies, pet hair allergy, dust mite allergy, or you might even have mold problems hidden somewhere in the drywall. So to be sure that this really comes from your mattress, think about when your problems started.
If they started right after or soon after getting a new mattress, and especially if they stop when you spend the night in another room, it definitely is the mattress.
If you have a foam pillow, then you need to test the pillow as well and try sleeping on an entirely different bed for a while. In case all symptoms are gone, you need to determine whether it’s the pillow, the mattress, or both that caused the symptoms. Reintroduce your foam pillow back while still sleeping in a different bed, and then try sleeping in the old bed, but with a different pillow. Once you’ve exhausted all the options, you’ll be able to determine which exact thing harmed you.
Who’s at Risk?
The symptoms depend on the sensitivity of a person. There are families where only one person has irritation problems while nobody else notices anything.
It’s usually the polyurethane and resin that release gas which can make some people really sick. These people are normally:
- prone to allergies
- suffering from asthma (or have suffered from it in the past)
- sensitive to chemical smells or artificial materials
Even if there are no visible symptoms, toxins could build up in the body and can lead to serious health issues in the long run. However, most of us have a good liver that detoxifies the body just fine, so we might never notice any problems with our beds.
Unfortunately, fire retardants, glues, and other toxic chemicals don’t get completely eradicated from our system and may still cause a lot of damage.
If you have kids, you might want to steer clear of memory foam mattresses or all polyurethane foam mattresses altogether.
Is My Own Mattress Toxic? What Makes Mattresses Toxic?
Your mattress might be toxic, especially if you have a memory foam mattress – the main culprits are chemical byproducts and flame retardants.
Older mattresses may contain harmful chemicals that are prohibited today. Newer mattresses may contain harmful chemicals that are not yet prohibited. Unfortunately, you can’t make foam without some kind of chemicals.
If you have several of the symptoms listed above and they appeared when you got the mattress, then yes, your mattress is the source of toxic chemicals that are harming you. If you don’t have any symptoms but still want to know more, check the mattress materials first.
Memory foam mattresses are the main cause of toxic mattress symptoms, but it could also be any other foam mattress, especially if they contain polyurethane foam. The bad news is that all types of foam mattresses contain some sort of harmful chemicals – even the natural latex ones.
Chemicals to watch out for in a mattress
- Formaldehyde
- Diisocyanates (including toluene)
- Benzene
- Propylene oxide and TDI
- Methylene chloride
- Perchloroethylene
- Boric acid
- Chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), known as Freon
Flame retardants:
- TCEP
- TCPP
- TDCPP
- HBCD
- TBPH
- TBB
- Polybrominated diphenyl ethers (PBDEs)
- TBBPA
- chlorinated paraffins
- antimony trioxide
Flame Retardants in Mattresses
Flame retardants have been required in all furniture and many consumer products since the ’70s. Starting in the early 2000s and up to today, about 15 states have banned flame retardants – some banned all of them from all products, some banned some types from some products, but one thing is for sure – there are groups who have been fighting against these bad chemicals since they were first introduced and they are finally making visible progress.
This means that people always knew how horrible flame retardants really are: that they are toxic if inhaled, that they are spread out through air easily and that they don’t get dissolved by natural processes, that they release extremely toxic byproducts if combustion catches them, and that oddly enough, they don’t really slow the spread of fire.
Fiberglass and Chemical Flame Retardants
Fiberglass used to be placed in mattresses until it got a bad reputation for coming through the mattress cover and causing rashes and for easily contaminating the entire room when the cover is removed, or the mattress is accidentally torn.
Chemical flame retardants replaced fiberglass, offering a solution to those spiky problems. As it turns out, they even more easily get out of the mattress, and not only do they harm the sleeper, but also kids and pets who spend their time in the same room, or even the same house. These chemicals worsen indoor air quality.
Fiberglass Exposure
Fiberglass is usually in older mattresses and it tends to be tucked in the middle, between foam layers. It’s not common to get directly exposed to fiberglass from a mattress unless you open it up.
If this does happen, tiny glass shards and particles can get on the skin, in the face, or get inhaled from the air. This causes the following:
- skin irritation, rash, and pain
- eye irritation or redness
- stomach discomfort
- soreness of the nose, nasal cavity, or throat irritation
None of these actually last for a long time or pose risks of permanent damage. However, you do need to clean every part of the room thoroughly, and air it out to make sure there’s no fiberglass left anywhere.
Non-Chemical Toxins
Some toxins are released by numerous micro-organisms that are regularly found in mattresses. The older your mattress is, unfortunately, the more bacterial colonies, dust mites, and their excrements all over and inside of your mattress.
Here’s a list of common mattress micro-organisms found in (usually old) mattresses:
- dust mites
- bacteria (E. coli, Staphylococcus aureus, and many more)
- yeast/fungi
- mold
You probably recognize each of these categories as bad and unwanted. That’s because each type of organism releases fumes and/or excrements and as those pile up, together with dead micro-organisms and actual dust and dander (skin cells), you get a mattress that causes allergies.
Mold is especially known to be a silent killer and you should not only sanitize your bathroom and kitchen against it, but also clean your mattress, vacuum it, let it air out, and give it some sunlight.
How to Choose a Safe Mattress
If you aren’t so enthusiastic that you’d make your own DIY mattress, you should look for these certifications:
- CertiPUR-US® is a certification program that ensures all foams are made without ozone depleters, any of the PBDEs, TDCPP or TCEP flame retardants, mercury, lead, and other heavy metals, formaldehyde, phthalates, and that they have Low VOC emissions.
- OEKO-TEX® tests all types of textiles for harmful substances, making sure the material is safe. Testing includes every thread, button, zipper, or any other accessory.
- GREENGUARD Gold-certified products are very low in chemical emissions as this is the strictest standard in furniture production. This standard ensures acceptable indoor air quality. It doesn’t mean that their certification will keep you 100% away from all VOCs, but it is the best one out there.
And if you’re not into certifications, but still want to avoid toxic mattresses and get one made of natural and organic materials, you can look at one of the following:
Should I Panic?
In a nutshell, you shouldn’t panic about your furniture as soon as you’ve read this article – you and everyone you know grew up in a home filled with fire retardants or off-gassing fumes and you’re still alive. What you can do from now on is slowly replace items one by one and ensure a better environment for your own kids.
Starting with your mattress, get informed on what exactly it’s made of. Older mattresses or memory foam ones are the main ones to watch out for because they may have more toxic substances and toxic materials in them.
Frequently Asked Questions
The specific smell of a new mattress could stay with you for a while – from two weeks to several months. It depends on how soon you receive your mattress after the manufacturing process, how much foam the mattress contains, and what type of foam that is. Research suggests that the real off-gassing never seems to stop, even if no smell is present. Body heat and movement help the release of chemicals.
For a long time, every mattress had to contain fire retardants to be legal in the USA (and there are still states that haven’t banned them) – so basically, any old mattress has either fiberglass or toxic flame retardant chemicals. Moreover, if there’s any kind of foam in the mattress, it will be off-gassing – some less than others, but you can’t produce foam without chemicals. The worst is memory foam.
Yes, old mattresses can still off-gas, and they normally contain at least some sort of a fire retardant that can harm you. But even more than that, really old mattresses can have hidden mold, dust mites, skin cells, various microbes, and all sorts of dirt combined with sweat, saliva, and even urine that’s aged and now causes breathing difficulties.
A growing body of evidence reveals just how harmful memory foam mattresses can be, so although most people will not have or notice any symptoms, we could still say that memory foam mattresses are toxic. They were more so in the past, but the ingredients have been changing. Recently revealed data is driving companies to tweak the manufacturing process so that their mattresses contain fewer of the chemicals proven to be bad. Yet, it doesn’t mean that they are all super clean and safe now.
Conclusion
You’ll hear the words “toxic mattress” a lot in the future because we’ve only recently got wind of the release of VOCs from foam, glue, and flame retardant particles which can cause a number of symptoms, from itchiness and sore throat to lethargy, sleepiness, and obvious signs of poisoning. These same particles are cancerogenic and exposure to them can be linked to a variety of cancers.
With more and more mattress companies opting for (or being forced into) healthier options, consumers can now choose organic mattresses with cotton, wool, and other materials and look at certifications that promise better quality. If your trust in any mattress company is now irreparably broken (and rightly so), you can always resort to making your own mattress.
Next step: Now that you’re aware of the risks and potential warning signs, it’s time to take a look at safe mattress brands. If you’re concerned about the risk of toxic mattresses, you should buy one of the brands on our best natural organic mattresses list.
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With over 5 years experience writing about sleep and mattresses, she's considered one of the go-to experts on the topic.
She likes cycling, nature, art, and languages. She pays special attention to providing you with accurate and useful information when it comes to your sleep quality.
After solving her personal sleep and tiredness problems, she is on to help others by sharing this invaluable information.
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