An interesting article,I think every parent should be aware of,with an
immune suppressed child,age 6mos to 6 yrs.
Interesting article about a Louisville manufacturer of
bedding who does not use chemical fire retardants.and for logical
reasons..

Tom Neltner
317-442-3973
neltner@...
_______________________________

Mattress maker targets 'clean' niche
Strobel leaves out fire retardant chemicals
By Bill Wolfe bwolfe@...
The Courier-Journal

For nearly two years, Jeffersonville, Ind., mattress maker
Mark Strobel fought a federal proposal for tougher fire
standards for his industry. The new rules, he argued, would
lead companies to lace bedding with toxic fire-retardant
chemicals such as boric acid and antimony.

But since the final approval of the Consumer Product Safety
Commission regulation, which takes effect next July, Strobel
has changed tactics. His 32-year-old business, Strobel
Technologies, will focus on producing "clean" mattresses
that will be exempt from the new rules if prescribed by a
physician or chiropractor.

"For me, the best thing to do is save as many people as I
can from the exposure risk. So I set up a retail outlet here
at the factory to offer prescription beds that don't include
the toxic chemicals," Strobel said.

One of his first customers in the new showroom was Benita
Conn, a Louisville radio station account manager who came to
the store with her husband, Keith, in part because of
concerns about chemicals.

"You hear so many horror stories" about dangerous chemicals
that can cause cancer, she said. "You always want to look
out for your own safety. Plus, we have a 12-year-old at home
and occasionally she will sleep in our bed when she's sick."

The Strobel beds might be more susceptible to fire, Benita
Conn said, but "it's a trade-off."

"I think you're more likely to get cancer from the chemicals
that you breathe and are exposed to in our society nowadays
than you are (at risk) from fire, to be honest with you,"
she said.

Strobel hopes worries about chemicals will bring more
customers to the outlet at 3131 Industrial Parkway. But this
isn't the first time his company has changed direction.
Regulations, technology and customer tastes can change, and
the ability to adapt is key to survival, Strobel said.

The University of Kentucky graduate learned business basics
from his father, who owned a Louisville aerosol-products
company. After college, Strobel said, "I knew I wanted my
own business. I wanted a growth industry. I was . sleeping
on a water bed, and it occurred to me: Water beds are
something that really sell well. And they did -- in the '70s
and '80s."

Strobel began making bed frames at a western Louisville shop
in 1974, then opened a store on Bardstown Road. In 1976, he
changed business strategies, realizing that it would be more
profitable to make the water-bed mattresses and buy the
frames from another supplier. He also moved his operation to
a Jeffersonville industrial park.

By the 1980s, the popularity of water beds began to decline,
and Strobel switched gears again, moving into producing
conventional mattresses.

Strobel Technologies is one of about 550 mattress companies
nationwide, but larger companies dominate the industry, he
said, with the 10 largest controlling 90 percent of the
market.

The new standards threaten to make things more difficult for
smaller companies, Strobel said, because of the added costs
of production, testing and certifying mattresses. It costs
$4,000 to $5,000 per model for testing, and the typical
manufacturer has about 25 models, Strobel said.

"It's going to hurt all the smaller manufacturers" to
comply, he said, but larger manufacturers can more easily
absorb the extra cost.

Mattresses already must be able to withstand a lighted
cigarette. Under the new federal standards, pioneered under
a California law, they must be able to endure an open flame.

Strobel said he also was alarmed to learn more about the
chemicals that can be used to increase flame resistance. "At
first I didn't know what boric acid was. . Then I found out
it was roach killer, and it's acutely poisonous," he said.
Other treatments include decabromodiphenyl oxide, a
suspected cancer-causing chemical, and antimony, a naturally
occurring element that can also cause assorted health
problems.

Although the new regulations won't go into effect until next
summer, many manufacturers have already complied with the
requirement.

To Strobel, it made no sense to put such chemicals in
bedding. "Your nose is right next to the mattress, and
you're breathing that, whatever comes out. And whatever
leaches to the surface, you're absorbing through your skin,"
he said.

He began a one-man campaign against the standards,
contacting new media and launching
www.peopleforcleanbeds.org.

The Consumer Product Safety Commission doesn't foresee a
problem, however.

"We looked at all kinds of real-world scenarios -- things
like bed-wetting, jumping on the bed, sweating, etc. In the
end, the tests proved that even under the most extreme-use
conditions, there is an insignificant risk of health
problems to consumers," said commission spokeswoman Patty
Davis.

"Consumers who purchase a new mattress that meets the
standard will be adding an important layer of protection to
their home" and "lives will be saved," Davis said.

The regulation had the support of the International Sleep
Products Association, a trade group.

But Dr. Doris J. Rapp, a certified environmental medical
specialist and pediatric allergist in Scottsdale, Ariz.,
sides with Strobel.

"The fire retardants are very bad," she said, adding that
boric acid is highly poisonous. "They tell you if you're
going to use it around your house for cockroaches, to be
careful to wear gloves and mask and keep your pets away from
it.

"I hardly think that that is something that should be put in
the top of mattresses that children and adults bounce up and
down on."

Strobel acknowledges that the issue is settled. He now runs
ads touting the benefits of mattresses that are "toxin
free." He hopes to market them through chiropractors, and
drum up sales through his Jeffersonville factory showroom.
He also sells online at www.prescriptionbeds.com.
"My biggest problem," Strobel said, is "to try to get the
word out about the chemicals."

Reporter Bill Wolfe can be reached at (502) 582-4248.