Once upon a (toxic) mattress.

In late December, the Chicago Tribune conducted an investigation into the use of flame retardants in crib mattresses.  Astonishingly, they found chlorinated tris—a likely carcinogen banned from children’s pajamas in 1977—in mattresses marketed under the Babies R Us, Foundations, and Angeles brands.   

We were duly alarmed back in September when the New York Times asked “How Safe is Your Couch?” about flame retardants, but this is one hundred times scarier.

And we’ll admit a little naiveté about mattresses: when we were buying one a year and a half ago, we wondered, “Why does a mattress need to be organic?  It’s not like our baby is going to EAT it.”  We hadn’t considered that he’d be breathing chemicals that were off-gassing from it.

We started adding mattresses to weeSpring.com today, but we need your help to build our list of what you trust — and what you’d tell your friends to avoid at all cost.

You can reach out via email or the “suggest a product” button on the site.

photo credit: Rob, Joyce, Alex & Nova via photopin cc