Posted by Alex on April 02, 2004 at 00:47:56:
Natural Home Magazine
By Tina Spangler
You'd probably like to think you're safe and sound when snuggling under the covers in bed. A firm mattress, clean sheets, and a comfy pillow and you're all set for eight hours of rest and relaxation for body and mind, right? Wrong.
From memory loss to headaches, depressions to itchy eyes, an array of health problems can arise from exposure to seemingly innocent bedroom objects. Most mattresses and pillows, for example, are filled with chemical-drenched synthetic fibers such as polyurethane foam that release chemicals into the air for years; these airborne toxins can cause headaches and nausea, and even lead to multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS), a condition that stems from exposure to toxic chemicals and results in a myriad of crippling symptoms. Microscopic dust mites (and their allergenic fecal matter) frequently infest mattresses, pillows, and carpeting, leading to respiratory problems including coughing and sinus congestion. And electromagnetic fields, or EMFs, which can be emitted from your alarm clock, have been linked to cancer.
Fortunately, making your bedroom a safer and more restful environment does not require a dramatic overhaul. It just involves recognizing danger zones so you can naturalize and improve your bedroom, bit by bit.
You spend a third of your life--that's twenty-five years--in bed, sleeping with pillowcases pressed against your nose and mouth, and sheets rubbing your skin. With such intimate contact, you should choose your bed linens with great care.
Polyester percale sheets (and blankets) are actually just soft thermoplastic, which is made from petrochemicals. The least comfortable and most harmful bed linens you can buy are polyester "no-iron" sheets. Not only are they made from petrochemicals, but they are treated with a formaldehyde resin finish. Cotton/polyester-blend, wrinkle-resistant sheets are also treated with formaldehyde.
Combed-cotton percale sheets, with at least two hundred threads per square inch, have the tightest weave and the softest, smoothest texture. Don't be fooled by the percale all-cotton sheets labeled "easy care" or "no-iron," which are treated with formaldehyde. Instead look for natural sheets made from unbleached cotton.
Always wash bed linens (even all-cotton ones) before using them the first time. To avoid wrinkles, hang them outdoors in the fresh air, or put them in the dryer and then remove as soon as they're dry.
Mattresses and pillows may be the biggest bedroom health offenders because most of them are stuffed with polyurethane foam--which can cause respiratory problems as well as skin and eye irritation--and because they harbor dust mites. Dust mites, found in all homes, are tiny insects whose fecal matter causes allergic reactions in five hundred million people around the world, according to Deborah Parrish, founder and president of Priorities, a mail-order catalog with products for allergy relief, in Wellesley, Massachusetts. The mattress foam also releases toluene diisocyanate, a chemical that can cause severe lung problems. The highest concentrations of these hazardous chemicals are emitted in the first few years of the mattress's life.
Chances are when you visit a department store to buy a new pillow or mattress, you'll have a tough time finding anything other than polyester or foam-filled varieties.
Pillows are like mini-mattresses that your face presses against for hours and hours, night after night. Cotton-filled pillows are the recommended alternatives to chemical-drenched polyester foam.