The Hidden Dangers in Your Child’s Mattress

Selecting and sustaining a safe sleep space for a kid is a precedence for fogeys earlier than their toddler even enters the world. Nonetheless, two new research counsel that mattresses agency sufficient for a kid to sleep on safely could emit poisonous chemical compounds that earlier analysis signifies are linked to developmental delays and endocrine system disruptions.

It sounds alarming, however there are issues mother and father can do to guard their kiddos.

“Sure, the findings are regarding, however additionally they empower us with data and selection,” says Kristen Cook, MD, a pediatrician based mostly in Mount Nice, Wisconsin. ”Right here’s the excellent news: You don’t must overhaul your complete nursery or spend 1000’s of {dollars} to make a distinction.”

Dr. Cook dinner and different specialists clarify what the research inform us about chemical compounds in children’s mattresses, what they don’t, and what mother and father can do.

What the Research Say About Chemical compounds in Youngsters’s Mattresses

Right here’s the quick reply: “They inform us that mattresses comprise numerous chemical compounds which can be identified to be dangerous to individuals and kids particularly,” says Gina Posner, MD, a board-certified pediatrician at MemorialCare Medical Group in California. 

Let’s dig additional. In a brand new examine printed April 14, 2025, within the journal Environmental Science & Know-how, researchers measured chemical compounds within the air of 25 kids’s bedrooms. The youngsters’s ages ranged from 6 months to 4 years. The authors discovered excessive ranges of phthalates, flame retardants, and UV filters. The very best ranges of those chemical compounds had been discovered close to the youngsters’s beds.

Why? That’s what researchers regarded to seek out out once they carried out a companion examine. For this examine, which was additionally printed in Environmental Science & Know-how on April 14, 2025, the staff examined 16 new kids’s mattresses. They realized that these mattresses had been a crucial supply of chemical publicity and carried out a simulation. 

“It discovered that many of those emissions had been highest in new, low-cost mattresses and {that a} youngster’s physique heat and stress elevated the discharge of those chemical compounds,” Dr. Cook dinner explains. “Phthalates, utilized in plastics and waterproof covers, flame retardants added for fireplace security, and UV filters had been all present in concentrations close to a location {that a} youngster may simply breathe them in. The implication from these research is that our kids’s mattresses are negatively affecting the growing mind and the endocrine system.”

Jane Houlihan, the analysis director at Healthy Babies Bright Futures, is very involved that the emissions confirmed up throughout the board. “It didn’t matter the fee, materials, or nation of origin—the mattresses nonetheless launched poisonous substances, and a few exceeded authorized limits,” Houlihan notes. “Each mattress examined contained poisonous components.”

That mentioned, Dr. Cook dinner says that the 2 research didn’t share particular mattress model names, and he or she and Dr. Posner identified that the research didn’t talk about whether or not the chemical compounds immediately brought about long-term well being points.

“Simply because there’s a hyperlink between two components doesn’t imply that one issue causes the opposite issue,” Dr. Cook dinner says. “At the moment, there isn’t a proof that the chemical compounds in mattresses definitively trigger developmental delays or issues with the functioning of the endocrine system. Sadly, dangerous chemical compounds are in every single place. These research didn’t measure how mattress exposures evaluate to different day by day chemical exposures.”

What Are the Risks?

The Nationwide Institute of Environmental Well being Sciences (NIEHS) notes that “even low doses of endocrine-disrupting chemical compounds could also be unsafe,” and that kids’s growing minds and our bodies go away them extra susceptible to the results of the chemical compounds. Based on NIEHS, the impacts of phthalates on kids may embody reproductive points and ADHD-related behaviors. 

And a January 2020 examine indicated that one flame retardant—polybrominated diphenyl ethers, or PBDEs—may have an effect on a toddler’s mental growth.

That’s to not say nothing is being accomplished or that zero guardrails are in place.

“The U.S. Product Security Fee requires all mattresses, not simply kids’s mattresses, to move two exams that decelerate the unfold of a fireplace,” explains Vineet Dubey, an environmental lawyer, associate, and co-founder at Custodio & Dubey LLP. “The concept is to present individuals extra time to flee.”

Dubey explains that one check, a cigarette ignition check, requires mattresses to withstand ignition from a “smoldering cigarette.” The opposite, an open flame check, assesses whether or not a mattress can keep under sure flame and warmth thresholds for half-hour. “However producers should not instructed how they have to meet these requirements,” Dubey says. ”Many flip to those chemical compounds as a result of they price much less.”

What Mother and father Can Do

Whereas the research aren’t good or definitive, the specialists Mother and father spoke with aren’t dismissing the analysis or the potential for harms. 

“Sure, kids’s mattresses comprise poisonous chemical compounds, however the day-to-day dangers are normally small,” Houlihan says. “What issues is that these small exposures can add up over time—identical to small selections you make to guard your youngster’s well being. That’s excellent news that folks must know; protecting selections add up, too.”

These are some sensible steps mother and father can take. 

Test labels

Dubey says some mattresses are licensed to have low emissions and no poisonous chemical compounds or substances.

“Search for merchandise which can be Greenguard Gold Licensed, GOTS Natural Licensed, or OEKO-TEX Normal 100,” Dubey says. ”Supplies to think about which can be naturally fireplace resistant, comprise no phthalates, and meet federal requirements embody natural wool and densely woven bamboo fiber. Additionally, there are some mattresses utilizing untreated polyester and, imagine it or not, Kevlar, and fiberglass. These all include their very own potential drawbacks, however should not hormone disruptors.”

Air it out

Off-gassing—one other phrase for the discharge of unstable natural chemical compounds into the air from supplies like mattresses—is highest if you unwrap one thing, says Dr. Cook dinner. She lets new mattresses air out in her storage for days earlier than bringing them into her residence.

Dr. Posner agrees, saying, “A number of the chemical compounds are the strongest if you first unwrap them. Let it air out for weeks—exterior ideally—after which use.”

Go impartial

Impartial-hued mattresses are greater than soothing and aesthetically pleasing. 

“They’re much less more likely to comprise UV filters, that are added to stop fading however might be dangerous,” Houlihan says.

Wash typically

Mother and father typically joke about doubling their laundry hundreds after having one tiny human. Nonetheless, common washing of bedding and clothing may also help decrease dangers of chemical publicity. Houlihan says bedding and clothes act as a protecting barrier and may take in among the contaminants, decreasing publicity.

Dr. Cook dinner washes her household’s sheets as soon as per week.

Minimalist at any age

The American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) sleep guidelines are for the primary 12 months of life and advise in opposition to blankets or stuffed animals within the mattress. Houlihan suggests protecting stuffed animals and blankies to a minimal long-term.

“Decrease extras within the crib or mattress, like stuffed animals or mattress pads, which may additionally harbor poisonous components,” she says.

Dr. Cook dinner advises commonly washing stuffed animals, too. “Mud can carry phthalates and different pollution,” Dr. Cook dinner explains. “Common sizzling water washes assist scale back what your youngster is inhaling.”

Advocate for the collective

The headlines and analysis could trigger fear, and you’ll definitely take small steps to guard your youngster. However Dr. Cook dinner suggests contemplating advocating for future adjustments.

“Attain out and ask if their merchandise comprise phthalates or UV filters,” Dr. Cook dinner says. “Many corporations are starting to prioritize safer supplies and are keen to share, and if they aren’t keen to share, at the least you’re calling them out for the poisonous chemical compounds they’re contributing to the environment. This problem shouldn’t fall totally on mother and father. Be a part of forces with shopper advocacy teams to push for higher laws and clearer labeling.”

There’s power in numbers, and our children can profit from it.

“Our youngsters will spend a 3rd of their early lives asleep,” Dr. Cook dinner says. “Understanding what they’re sleeping on is a strong solution to defend their long-term well being. Not from a spot of worry, however from a spot of knowledgeable, assured parenting.”