Avoiding Sids, Chemicals, Mold, Toxic Gases and Allergens.

READ ABOUT CONVENTIONAL CHILDREN'S MATTRESSES AND FIRE RETARDANT

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A number of articles hit the news the past several years regarding mattress fumes and SIDS. The news refers to a 1989 British Study. A May 23, 1998 British Medical Journal News release concludes, in part, that "there is no evidence to suggest that an interaction between mold and fire retardants used in PVC and other materials used to manufacture cot mattresses causes the sudden infant death syndrome".

Who paid for that "study"?

Could chemicals in mattresses combined with fungus cause crib death? Holland Franklin has done much research and some of her words appear below. Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS), or crib death, is the unexpected death of an infant not explained by known cause in babies'' health or environment. It is the leading cause of death in infants from one to six months of age. SIDS risk begin usually at two weeks after birth and declines after the third month when the baby' s immunity acquired from the mother tapers off.

SIDS OR CRIB DEATH OR COT DEATH IS RARE AFTER ONE YEAR.

Since 1945 about 1 million infant deaths have been attributed to SIDS. SIDS deaths were quite rare before that time.

AFTER WORLD WAR 2 -INCREASED USE OF CHEMICALS IN OUR DAILY LIVES.

The United States alone continues to have over 3,000 SIDS deaths each year.

Is there a Mattress Connection?

Many ideas have been proposed to explain SIDS, but none has been comprehensive or convincing until the theory presented by Barry validated by the research of Dr. T. James Sprott, a New Zealand chemist and forensic scientist.

Poisoning due to toxic gases released from baby mattresses.

These gases are produced by the interaction of common household fungi with present naturally in the mattresses or which have been added as flame retardant chemicals. The fungi are harmless by themselves but feed on these chemicals. The by products are the gases phosphine (PH3), arsine (AsH3) and stibine (SbH3). These nearly odorless gases breathed even in small quantities for an extended time can interrupt the choline/acetylcholine transfer of nervous impulses from the brain to the heart and lungs. This shuts down the central nervous system; heart function and breathing stop. The gases are heavier than air, and about 1,000 times more poisonous than carbon monoxide. A baby sleeping on its stomach is in the zone above the mattress where the gases are most dense. Repeated exposure to these gases, especially in combination with other insults to a baby's immune systems, can result in toxic overload and death.

"We believe that if the mattress is full of standard chemicals used on mattresses in usa its bad news to start with."We have activated carbon blankets that can encase the mattress if you already have one . The carbon blankets need to be encased in some barrier cloth and then additional sheets over it to avoid the carbon in the baby's breathing space .This is not ideal. A organic cotton and wool mattress is healthier.

$388 AND SHIPPING FOR THE PUREST ORGANIC WOOL AND COTTON CRIB MATTRESS

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There has been no research to date which has disproved this theory or offered a better one. Research in 1994 by Richardson showed high levels of antimony in livers of SIDS babies. Antimony is not normally present in a healthy baby, and does not show up in autopsies of babies who slept on mattresses free of phosphorus, arsenic and antimony. This means that SIDS is an environmental problem, not a medical one. Areas of the world where mattresses containing these chemicals are used have a much higher incidence of SIDS. Areas in the world where fungus is ubiquitous, such as in Japan, Hong Kong and the Pacific Islands, but where mattresses do not contain these chemicals they HAVE LESS problems with SIDS.

Fungal growth is sped up when moisture from the baby's body such as perspiration, urine, drool, etc. Penetrates the bedding and provides a growth medium for the fungus. Growth is also sped up by increased body heat, especially if a baby has a temperature from tightly wrapped covers, higher room temperature, infection in a compromised immune system, and/or a reaction to vaccinations. Boy babies with their increased metabolism have a 30 percent higher incidence of SIDS than girl babies. British researcher Peter Mitchell showed that babies later in the birth order have a higher incidence of SIDS deaths because over time, repeated use of the same mattress increases the amount of fungal spores present. The risk doubles with each child. Lower income families have more SIDS deaths because they are more likely to reuse bedding rather than buy new bedding for each child. Children of poor single mothers are at seven times the risk for SIDS. The Richardson theory was first made public in Britain in 1989. Public relations campaigns in both Britain and New Zealand have significantly reduced SIDS deaths.

Manufacturers in Britain withdrew the use of toxic chemicals in their products. This was coupled with a campaign to have all babies sleep on their backs. Unfortunately there is resistance from researchers and health authorities in these countries and the United States which prevents information campaigns from being as effective as they might be. Authorities seeking to avoid possible lawsuits may try to suppress this information.

How to Protect Infants

It is important to protect infants from exposure to these gases. The heavier-than-air gases drift towards the floor, so babies are somewhat protected by sleeping on their backs. Phosphine is only slightly heavier than air though, so it poses a hazard to babies in any position. After the age of five months a baby can turn itself over and once again receive higher exposure. It is ideal to protect babies from all contact with these gases. Covering a mattress with a barrier to exposure is the alternative if chemical-free bedding is not available.

PROVIDE YOUR NEW BORN INFANT A CHEMICAL FREE NATURAL NON TOXIC CRIB MATTRESS AND ORGANIC WOOL MOISTURE PAD TO PREVENT DRIBBLES AND ACCIDENTS CAUSING MOLD FORMATION IN THE MATTRESS

OUR CONCLUSIONS .

START WITH A CHEMICAL FREE MOLD FREE MATTRESS

Organic cotton and chemical free wool baby crib mattresses for the all natural nursery.

PBDE's change a child's intelligence, memory increase hyperactivity, damage hearing learning and memory . Flame retardant , pass through the placenta and are absorbed by the new born. The federal EPA, has jurisdiction over the chemicals but has made no move to regulate them. Two Cal/EPA scientists, writing in a scientific journals, have recommended a phase out of the chemicals.-Less toxic alternatives to the persistent PBDE flame retardant are desirable," wrote McDonald and Cal/EPA scientist Kim Hooper. Representatives of the four companies that manufacture PBDE's oppose a ban, saying the compounds' benefits to pubic safety are well known and their risks are uncertain. Several dozen flame-retarding compounds other than PBDE's exist and do not accumulate in tissues and pose less risk. Exposure to toxic chemicals are probably highest in North America because it is the only place still using the form of PBDE most likely to accumulate in humans and the environment. That compound, penta-BDE, is banned in Europe but is used in polyurethane foam of furniture and building materials in the United States. Exposure levels of tested Americans vary widely - some people carry concentrations as much as 100 times as high as others. Americans carry 10 to 70 times as much PBDE's in their breast milk, tissues and blood as Europeans do. Lead, mercury and PCB's - are known to harm human health at levels found in the environment. The new studies provide evidence that PBDE's may be the fourth. PBDE's have striking similarities to PCB's which were banned in the 1970's because they were collecting in the tissues of people and wildlife. Like PCB's and DDT, PBDE's are slow to break down, persisting in the environment and accumulating in human and animal fat. PBDE concentrations increase as the chemicals move up through the food web, peaking in top predators such as whales, dolphins, birds of prey and humans. PBDE's mimic thyroid hormones, which regulate the growth of a baby's neurological system. Because of that, if exposure comes during a critical phase of brain growth, it can alter how the brain develops. Chemicals are altering thyroid hormones. Altering thyroid hormones during fetal development "can affect how the brain functions. Also, Eriksson and other toxicologists say the flame retardant have the same effects as PCB's on the brains of newborn animals in the same doses. In several studies, children born to women who ate large amounts of PCB-contaminated fish have been found to have reduced intelligence. Some women are carrying amounts of PBDE's comparable to the amounts of PCB's that reduce children's IQ's, toxicologists say. As demand for flame retardant in electronics and furniture grew in the 1980's, PBDE's began to build up in nature and people, and when Swedish scientists checked women's breast milk and discovered that levels of PBDE's had increased sixty-fold. PBDE's also are showing up in wildlife worldwide, settling in oceans and lakes just as PCB's and DDT did. Even polar bears near the North Pole and sperm whales feeding in deep ocean waters are contaminated with them. Some environmental scientists say the discovery of PBDE's near the North Pole proves their global spread, and that this should be an impetus for U.S. Regulators to take precautionary measures as soon as possible.

BUT WHO IS LOOKING AFTER YOU WHILE THEY CONTEMPLATE? ??????

Please make a point of sharing this information with your doctor who may not know to what extent these newest harsh regulations are impacting the health of their patients and ask for a note to free you from these chemicals. We will not sell you a mattress with the latest ruling of fire retardant even if you ask for it . We will only sell you an organic chemical free natural mattress. Flame retardant are rapidly building up in the bodies of people and wildlife around the world, harming developing brains, Polybrominated diphenyl ethers, are used to reduce the spread of fire in an array of plastic and foam products in homes and offices, including mattresses, bedding, upholstered furniture, building materials, televisions, computers and other electronic equipment. Europeans banned two PBDE compounds that accumulate in human bodies. European industries had already begun to phase out the chemicals But in United States, no action to regulate the flame retardant has been taken, and their use continues to rise and the level of fire retardants used from Jan 05 will be much higher Scientists who specialize in toxic contaminates say they haven't seen a chemical build up in human bodies and the environment as quickly as that of PBDE's in almost half a century. The flame retardant are as potent and long lasting as PCB's (polychlorinated biphenyls) and DDT- chemicals that began to accumulate in the environment in the 1950's and were banned in the 1970's. We're adding them to consumer products, so they're in every home, every office, every car, every bus, every plane," said Tom McDonald, a toxicologist with the California Environmental Protection Agency's Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment.

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