The Air Around Your Sleeping Child Is 'Worrisome'

Your child may fear the monster under their bed. They'd be smarter to fear the air around it, or so suggests a new study. CNN reports researchers who analyzed the air in the bedrooms of 25 kids between the ages of 6 months and 4 years found "worrisome" levels of more than two dozen phthalates, flame retardants, and UV filters—particularly near the bed. To determine why, they launched a companion study in which they evaluated 16 new lower-cost children's mattresses to determine whether they were off-gassing the chemicals. The did indeed find them to be a source of semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOCs). The Guardian explains that semi-volatile means "they can lift off objects and seep into the air over time."

They then tested and confirmed an additional hypothesis: that children's body heat and weight, which is a realistic scenario, would increase emissions and hence exposures." That's "a factor that current safety standards don't consider," said Jane Houlihan, research director for Healthy Babies, Bright Futures, who was not part of the study. The researchers also noted that children's exposure to SVOCs and other environmental contaminants exceeds that of adults due to "their 10-times higher inhalation rate, 3-times larger skin surface area per body weight compared to adults, and their unique behaviors such as frequent hand-to-mouth contact and mouthing objects."

"We were really shocked to find what was in the mattresses," co-author Miriam Diamond of the University of Toronto tells the Guardian, which notes one mattress's weight was 3% flame retardant. Phthalates and flame retardants are types chemicals whose compounds have been linked to everything from cancer and hormonal disruption to lower IQs. Phthalates are generally used as plasticizers to facilitate bending and get added to plastic mattress covers, but Diamond said researchers were surprised to find them in non-plastic covers as well.

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As for what concerned parents can do, the chief scientific officer at the Food Packaging Forum explains her choices to CNN: "We opted for large brands that I knew had at least some chemicals policies, and tried to get natural materials—latex, cotton, merino—or buy second hand, because I figured that most chemicals that would gas out will already have gassed out." (More health study stories.)