Adhesives in Mattresses

The components or parts used to make mattresses arrive separately at a mattress factory. Innersprings come from one supplier, foam layers from another, fiber from another, fabric from another, glues, thread, and so on. Normally each manufacturer has multiple suppliers for each material.

Most mattresses are made with innersprings covered with foam and fiber. All that material is held together with synthetic glues and adhesives. That's why you can stand most mattresses on their sides and nothing much happens--they don't fall apart.

Even when a mattress is made entirely of foam, as most memory foam styles are, its construction begins with separate layers. Each foam layer is glued to the next to create a solid core. The resulting design is a large cuboid with considerable volume—or, to put it more simply—a big, bulky box. Moved from one home to another, hauled up stairs, flipped, rotated and generally abused—mattresses need to stay put together. So mattress manufacturers buy glue by the drum, not by the bottle.

After the layers of material are sprayed with glue and stuck together, the cover or casing is also adhered to the mattress core. All together, some manufacturers use up to a quart of liquid glue per mattress.

Is there a safety concern? Some adhesives in use in some mattresses are very toxic. Consider the following example of a required Material Safety Data Sheet, or MSDS, which manufacturers must maintain on file.

For a typical adhesive approved for use in upholstery, for example, a one-minute Internet search turns up this daunting description:

Ingredients

ACETONE
PROPANE
HEXANE
DIMETHYL ETHER

EFFECTS OF OVEREXPOSURE - SKIN CONTACT: Prolonged or repeated contact can
cause moderate irritation, defatting, dermatitis.
EFFECTS OF OVEREXPOSURE - INHALATION: Excessive inhalation of vapors can
cause nasal and respiratory irritation, dizziness, weakness, fatigue,
nausea, headache, possible unconsciousness, and asphyxiation.
Overexposure may cause damage to the nervous system.
EFFECTS OF OVEREXPOSURE - INGESTION: No Information.
EFFECTS OF OVEREXPOSURE - CHRONIC HAZARDS: Overexposure to this material
(or its components) has apparently been found to cause the following
effects in laboratory animals: kidney damage, eye damage, liver damage,
lung damage, nasal damage, nervous system damage, testis damage.
Overexposure to this material (or its components) has apparently been found
to cause the following effects in humans: visual impairment, central
nervous system effects.

So what happens when you lie on something that's been sprayed with this glue and breathe in whatever it's breathing out, for eight hours every night? Unfortunately, this hasn't been a topic of much research. But many consumers are beginning to respect their instincts, and are seeking out alternatives to the conventionally constructed mattress. Some feel there doesn't seem to be much point in eating organic food during the day, for example, and then inhaling toxic chemicals at night.

Mattress consumers' choices have been limited, but alternatives like organic mattresses are increasing. The surest way to avoid adhesives in a mattress is by choosing a layered design that is assembled after purchase—without glue.

Michael Penny is the founder of Savvy Rest Organic Mattresses and an expert on body dynamics and sleep issues. An entrepreneur and a yoga practitioner, Penny brings a unique perspective to the natural mattress industry.