U of T alum draws international headlines after finding children’s mattresses off-gas chemicals

Photo by Pyrosky/Getty Images.

Many children’s mattresses contain concerning chemicals, often exceeding regulatory limits, and the compounds are released into the air when kids sleep on them, University of Toronto alum Miriam Diamond (PhD 2017) told international news outlets this week after leading a pair of studies on the problem.

“We were really shocked to find what was in the mattresses,” Diamond, a professor in U of T’s department of Earth Sciences in the Faculty of Arts & Science, told U.K.-based newspaper The Guardian. “The kids are getting quite a dose of this stuff.” 

In addition to assessing the components of 16 inexpensive mattresses purchased in Ontario, Diamond and her research team conducted a field study where parents helped measure particulates in the bedroom air of 25 youngsters. They found all sorts of worrisome chemicals, including one banned in Canada since 2014. “Kids inhale 10 times more air than adults, so that gives the opportunity to be exposed to airborne chemicals a lot more than adults,” Diamond told CBC news.

The field study also showed how chemicals migrate from mattresses into the environment. “We know that emissions ought to increase when you heat something up and when you apply pressure,” Diamond explained to Consumer Reports.

Originally published by U of T News