the scary stuff lurking in your mattress...

As my friends know, I am a little on the crazy side when it comes to avoiding nasty chemicals. I worked for 4 years in a lab where we regularly breathed in formaldehyde, and because I loved my job I just took it in stride- just part of the job of being a biologist. Thankfully, I don't work with formaldehyde anymore, but I still breathe it in on a daily basis, because it is used in so many things in our world... particle board... plywood... couches... mattresses... all which off-gas chemicals. Things are changing, new standards for using (or not using, more appropriately) formaldehyde and other chemicals in mattresses and furniture are being adopted, and the prevalence of eco friendly furniture and mattresses is increasing. That being said, it's still not that common for people to know that their furniture and mattresses are off gassing potentially cancer causing (among other things) chemicals right into their homes- it's not like Pottery Barn is going to advertise their couches with a sign that says "this couch will off-gas harmful chemicals for 6-8 years!". I know that this sounds scary- the first time I read about off gassing of chemicals in household furniture, I was like "we have to get rid of all of our furniture NOW!!!". Clearly, that is not possible. So, baby steps. A few pointers for dealing with potentially harmful off-gassing chemicals if you can't afford to go out and refurnish your entire home (if you can do that, by all means, do).

1. Don't freak out. It is easy to get freaked out by all the scary stuff that may give us cancer in this world, and remember that there are things you can do to mitigate the dangers (eat organic, filter your water, exercise around trees to breathe in all that clean air, etc).

2. Open all your windows, daily. Crack one in the winter if you can, just to get some fresh air in and that chemical laden air out. This really does a lot for your indoor air quality. You could get an air filter, but I don't know which ones work on chemicals- I am lucky enough to live somewhere that I can open a window (or all of them) most of the year, at least for some part of the day.

3. Get some houseplants. If you have been to our house, you know it is a jungle in our little living space. Many houseplants are excellent at filtering out toxic chemicals- We have peace lilies and spider plants and ficus that all do a great job of keeping our air clea.

4. If you can, replace your furniture. When I learned this info, about 3 years ago, I started saving a little bit of money a month to buy an organic cotton and natural latex mattress. I figured that the mattress was the way to start- we spend a ton of our lifetime sleeping, and lying on that mattress breathing in everything it is off-gassing... Next will be the couch, hopefully at some point we will be able to afford an organic cotton and chemical free one...

Since we bought our mattress (which is AMAZING, but was pretty expensive- $3000 all together for the queen mattress and slat system for it), we have slowly been able to turn the bedroom into an eco-sleeping heaven- organic cotton and wool pillows and comforter (wool is actually more breathable then down and naturally fire retardant), organic cotton sheets, unfinished red alder beside tables and dresser, and a (gorgeous) unfinished red alder bed (which was handmade by my husband). I know that sounds like a lot, but when we started trying to get pregnant, I really wanted to make it a priority, since everything I breathe a fetus breathes as well. (Sidenote- if you can, buy your baby a mattress of the same caliber for their crib- I cringe when I think of little ones breathing in all those chemicals as they are developing). But, even if you can't replace anything anytime soon, adding some plants to your house and opening the windows does a huge amount of air refreshing, and helps to keep the chemicals you are breathing in to a minimum. It helps to remember that there are many small, inexpensive things you can do to stay healthy, and then when you are ready to replace your mattress or couch or whatever needs replacing, make sure you replace it with something that will nurture and take care of you, not poison you (not to sound all doomsday!)

Have you thought about replacing your mattress? Do you try to get fresh air in the house as much as you can? Have any other tips for keeping your air nice and clean? Let me know. Cheers!