This picture with this is from an article on the NIH website about the brominated fire retardant chemical that mimics estrogen. You can read that here: 3-D images show flame retardants can mimic estrogens in NIH study | National Institutes of Health (NIH).
This is only one example of fire retardant chemicals used in mattresses to make them flame retardant to meet the very strict U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission standards. This flame retardant causes precocious puberty. It was really done to make Big Chemical rich at consumer’s health expense. Another fire retardant chemical used in mattresses is Antimony Trioxide which is a heavy metal that is more toxic than mercury. This chemical contributes to Alzheimer’s disease and neurological disorders. Others include formaldehyde, boric acid, Vinylidene Chloride and several others. The CPSC claims these chemicals stay inside the materials of a mattress and doesn’t leach into sleepers but this is patently false. There were no labeling requirements by the CPSC so what if someone is allergic to formaldehyde? Such people find out after it is too late.
Some mattress companies claim they use wool to meet the strict standards but they don’t tell the whole truth because the wool has to be treated. Other mattress companies use the term ORGANIC in marketing their products to give their consumers a false sense of security because while some materials used in a mattress might be organic, it does not mean the whole mattress is organic.
The CPSC is just another government agency taken over by corporate special interests at the health expense of the American citizens. Such agencies of the government shouldn’t even exist because the Constitution only allows the Congress to make law, not government agencies.
To get a real chemical free mattress, there is only one source at www.sleepessentials.com. On that website there is a wealth of information about the corrupt mattress industry. The Consumer Product Safety Commission needs to be closed down completely. There is your only policy solution.