TOPIC:

Recently I read an article about the Zinus mattresses leaking fiberglass and it got me checking my own mattress to be sure. The tag on the outer cover read "made in china, cover is machine washable, 67% polyester/33% viscose // 78% polyester/22% viscose", so no mention of any fiberglass content to be sure. I shone a flashlight under my bed to be sure it hadn't "leaked" any material as I had recently removed the cover for a bit. I'd read in the articles that fiberglass strands would reflect the light and show up. Now I didn't see any fiberglass "hairs", but I DID notice tiny specks of what looked like it could be very finely ground glass and it got me a bit paranoid.

The thing is, about two months ago I dropped a glass item in my room that shattered, so I suppose there IS a possibility there could be some remains of that glass, but it was far away from where I'd dropped the item and on top of boxes stacked under the bed. Because I felt unsure I emailed Jysk, where I'd bought the mattress (a Wellpur F30 mattress to be precise) to ask them what material they used for their FR barrier, but the only information they gave me was the same "67% polyester/33% viscose // 78% polyester/22% viscose". This seems.. incomplete to me? I haven't heard of an FR sock made only of those materials and I have SEEN that the foam mattress is encased in a kind of knitted sock, similar to the pictures on websites like Alibaba of FR sock material that is described as containing fiberglass. Aditionally, when I asked another Jysk employee if their FR barriers contained modacrylic or fiberglass they answered "many of our mattresses do contain these, yes", but when I asked about my specific mattress I got the generic list of materials that can be found on their website. It came across to me like an underpaid customer service employee just repeating the information easily available to them. In the end I'm left really confused if I should be worried about there being glass fibers inside the mattress cover or if it's a non-issue and I just got in my head. I just KNOW I don't want a mattress if it does contain fiberglass, but returning the mattress (it is still in the return period) would be quite the hassle so I want to avoid it if I don't have to. What do you guys think? Is it possible that the FR sock only contains the materials listed on the tag?

Hi flyghigh.

Welcome to The Mattress Underground!

I haven't heard of an FR sock made only of those materials and I have SEEN that the foam mattress is encased in a kind of knitted sock, similar to the pictures on websites like Alibaba of FR sock material that is described as containing fiberglass. Additionally, when I asked another Jysk employee if their FR barriers contained modacrylic or fiberglass they answered "many of our mattresses do contain these, yes", but when I asked about my specific mattress I got the generic list of materials that can be found on their website.

While Jysk reps seem to be willing to admit that many of their mattresses have FR socks containing modacrylic and/or fiberglass, unfortunately, I could not identify any mattress on their website that lists these chemicals, so it is impossible to know with certainty if your particular mattress is the lucky “outlier”.
Toxicity/Safety is really dose-dependent but you are quite right to be concerned about fiberglass and modacrylics in your mattress as far too many of the memory foam and polyfoam beds on the market today have inexpensive FR solutions which are suspect of lower than required safety standards. Even though they are required by law to state the composition and percentage of each material in their mattress the lines are still blurry when it comes to listing everything on the law tag.

Modacrylic is a synthetic Polymer and contains at least two of the chemicals listed on the California Prop 65 of substances that cause cancer … acrylonitrile and antimony trioxide. Fiber Glass as well poses many health risks so it is important to identify exactly what is in your mattress.

I had a quick look at Jysk’s Wellpur F30 but I didn’t have any luck finding more details. One issue here is that the law tag may not list all materials (even though they are required to and even though apparently, the percentages add up). It may be that the inner Fire Barrier sock or the mattress contains other parts that had been treated, sprayed, or soaked in some form of flame-retardant chemical (such as Antimony spraying which is equally harmful, or chemical soaks that are inexpensive methods to pass the FR safety standards required by law) Once in a mattress, these substances are free to further permeate another layer including the cover and sheets. Additionally, during sleep, this process is sped up body heat and perspiration.

I would email Jysk a second time and ask them to provide you with the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for the entire mattress, which should include the Flame retardant sock and the cover. Again, companies are required by federal law to disclose the material content so don’t be shy in asking. If they don’t send you this info I’d assume that they have something to hide or they do not have thier customer's interests at heart and I would personally return the mattress even though it is a big hassle.

and I have SEEN that the foam mattress is encased in a kind of knitted sock, similar to the pictures on websites like Alibaba of FR sock material that is described as containing fiberglass.

You could try to take a few photos of the sock and the mattress law tag and post them here. I am guessing that this is the Alibaba FR sock you’ve compared it to. Hopefully, some of our subscribers have better intel on this and chime in

In case you decide to write Jysk a second email., do let us know what they say.
Phoenix