Monday's CNN lead story revealing the dangerous amounts of chemicals present in young children is a wake-up call for parents across the USA.

"Each time we read environmental health news like this in the mainstream media it reaffirms our commitment to continue building naturally flame retardant mattresses," said Ron Larson, President of Nebraska-based www.theNaturalBedStore.com. "Environmental news articles such as Monday's CNN feature on the Holland family ignite a parental desire to thoroughly investigate the products our families live with, eat from and sleep on each day."

"When considering potential chemical exposure in a confined environment, certainly the bed is one of the first products a person needs to inspect," Larson said. "Of course it is distressing when an adult is exposed to high levels of chemicals throughout the night, but children are at even greater risk," Larson noted.

The EPA website reports: "Concentrations of many VOCs (Volatile Organic Compounds) are consistently higher indoors (up to ten times higher) than outdoors." Volatile Organic Compounds and the "outgassing" of these VOCs into the home is a festering concern in the environmental design community.

"Outgassing continues to be a major discussion topic among mattress buyers," Larson said. "Health-conscious consumers are concerned that their petrochemical-based mattress is contributing to a toxic environment. In response to consumer demand for an alternative, a new type of mattress with a core of all natural organic latex is rapidly gaining an extremely devoted following among health-minded consumers."

2007 was a year of significant change in the mattress industry: new fire codes for mattresses went into effect on July 1st. Known as 16 CFR 1633, the new code is designed to save lives from mattress fires.

Yet the question often arises: are consumers merely trading one hazard--Fire--for another evil: Cancer? In other words, isn't the trade-off for mattress safety a necessary increase in the chemicals applied to a mattress?

"Popular belief equates flame retardant mattresses with man-made chemicals," Larson says. "Yet our company has consistently proven it is possible to incorporate natural materials, such as wool, into an environmental friendly design. We use natural materials--like wool--to construct mattresses for babies through adults that clearly passes the new 16 CFR 1633 standards."

Many parents are now buying natural organic latex mattresses for their children of every age as well as their infants. Twin, queen and king natural latex mattress sales have increased significantly in 2007. Increasingly the chemical concern is spreading to the parent's own bed. After all, children spend hours reading or watching TV with their parents in bed during their younger years. It makes little sense to tuck a toddler into an organic crib mattress but then continue to expose her to a chemical-drenched mattress her parents sleep on.

The future? Larson notes increasing concern among adults for their children's chemical safety. Larson concludes: "When you watch Anderson Cooper getting a blood draw for a 'body burden' test to determine the level of toxic chemicals in his blood, you know we are really at the beginning of an escalating awareness of the toxic time-bomb American homes are sitting on. We anticipate a rapid increase in consumer awareness of this important environmental issue."

About TheNaturalBedStore.com
www.TheNaturalBedStore.com is a pioneer in the specialty sleep industry. TheNaturalBedStore.com manufactures all-natural, organic latex sleep systems created with earth-friendly materials. The company's Heaven and Earth mattress is the premier natural organic latex mattress built in the United States today.