Cancer Incidence vs Spring Mattresses

I think I'm familiar with the "Apple" odor.  It's amazing that I can say that - since I've generally found Apple products to be fairly horrible from an e.s.-standpoint.  That means that I cannot be an Apple "hipster" - so I can be ignorant of many of the company's "trademarks".  The Apple odor is kind-of a pleasant fragrance that you may get lulled into thinking is relatively "healthy" or "harmless" - but it's hard to say whether the odor is harmless or not.  From my experience, it is an odor that is easily managed by (like you said) moving the box away from you, or something along those lines.  The odor doesn't seem to "travel" very far.  

It's funny that even a 2008 Apple Macbook that I bought (via eBay) in 2013 still had this odor - the laptop itself emitted this odor, and it was on/in the box.  I was willing to live with this odor - it wasn't unpleasant - but for various reasons I was unsatisfied with the laptop, so I returned it.

For the most part, though - I'm uncomfortable with any lingering odor - even if it is pleasant.  I'm no expert on the "science" behind an odor - but IIRC, odors often have a petrochemical base that isn't exactly healthy.  In fact, on the Cosmetic Safety Database (the Environmental Working Group resource that I sometimes like to use for information on an item I'm considering buying) - "fragrance" often seems to be rated as the most hazardous ingredient of a consumer item (such as hair products, lotions, soaps, etc.).  "Fragrance" is often given the "8", "9", or "10" rating - which means that its potential toxicity is considered high.  This is why I would rather have most of my consumer products unscented.  For example - why do I need to smell my hair "shine serum", or my hand-sanitizer?    

But the odors that I was referring to in my earlier post aren't exactly pleasant odors.  Well, they can be "pleasant", in a way - but only because I can have an unhealthy "addiction" to certain odors.  But these odors are different than the "Apple" odor.  These are odors that you more readily associate with industrial chemicals, or petrochemicals.  These are odors that you might describe as a "chemical", or "plastic", or "rubber" odor.  When you smell these odors, you might think of unhealthy "volatile organic compounds" - and you become concerned that you're breathing in some unhealthy compounds.  I know that I would rather not have my food come into contact with a "smelly" paper towel - or have my pills/supplements come into contact with a pill box that has a "chemical" or "rubber" odor.  

I've noticed that many of the things that are "Made in China" have these sorts of unpleasant odors - but I'm not sure if there is a single, well-known "Made in China" odor.  Can you tell me what the "Made in China" odor smells like?  Perhaps this is what I'm often smelling.  

You would think, though - if the odors were strictly because of the air pollution over there - that they would dissipate at some point.  Many of the odors that I'm describing seem to never quite go away - which indicates that it could be some component of the product itself that is offgassing.

I put large pieces of cardboard over my slats to help support the airbed as the spaces were rather large


> On 2/27/2014 1:50:59 AM, Svetaswan [via ES] ([hidden email]) wrote:
> > Thanks Patricia - that's encouraging news. I still have yet to try my airbed
> for a couple of reasons - but one of these days, maybe. The fact that my
> foundation has a broken "slat" is not encouraging as far as placing my
> airbed on top of the foundation - but I did have a couple of different beds
> sitting on top of this broken foundation with no apparent problems, so maybe
> it could work after all.
>
>
> _______________________________________________
> If you reply to

Hi Svetaswan,

The Coleman finally quit making my back hurt so much, so I didn't get
the new aerobed ordered ... that is until the chintzy Coleman busted out
a big old hernia ... and so goes another one down the drain, after what,
a couple of months?

Got the new Aerobed today. When I was researching which one to buy,
guess what? They were bought by Coleman. Grrrrrrrr. So that pretty much
left me the "Commercial Twin" as the only option. I even called and they
said that air release valve was discontinued, but this one has a
different air release. It won't be as handy to get the inflation just
right as it will have to be at the foot of the bed and has a cap you
have to line up and twist back on, but better than none.  I don't like
having a pump built into the mattress. I can unplug it, but the metal in
the wire stills acts as an antennae. Sure is handy though! Wow, much
easier! Much!

***Aerobed has two thicknesses of a new material called Ecolite. I think
it said no smell. I really wanted to try one of those, but 7 inches
thick was too thin, and the thicker one (14 inches? I can't remember)
was too expensive.

Stink! Oh Stink, oh stink. Like a vinyl shower curtain. I put it in my
mom's spare bedroom, opened a window, opened the heater vent, set up a
fan to blow the air out the window, but the room is still just knock me
out toxic stench, that no doubt will gradually fade until I can wrap and
seal it up in the black plastic that doesn't stink. I really want to use
it and have more than 18 inches wide to sleep on, but maybe in a week it
will be ready to wrap. This one came with a mattress cover that will be
nice if I can get the stench out of it. Might hang it outside on the
clothes line for 2 weeks as  sun and wind seem to be the best deodorizer.

Yes, the chemical odor of so many things is such an issue today. Toilet
paper usually just reeks, maybe from shipping with scented laundry
products. I usually have to take the rolls out of the plastic and set
them to air on back porch for a week or two before I bring them inside,
and then still separate them to insure lots of air flow.

Karen

 > On 2/27/2014 1:55:03 AM, Svetaswan [via ES]
([hidden email]) wrote:
 > > Hi Karen - thanks for the positive run-down on the Aerobed - it's
encouraging
 > that another e.s.'er/mcs'er is making do with one. As I said to
Patricia, I
 > still haven't tried mine yet - for a number of reasons (some of which
I may
 > not be quite sure of). So I'm sorry that I cannot be of more help to you
 > concerning the issues you raised - such as exactly what type of
 > air-inlet/valve it has.
[KE: and the rest is also quoted, but my lame program chops off a lot of
text]
Having had no experience with airbeds, I chose the Aerobed for reasons that
you may have imagined and have confirmed - it seems to garner more
uniformly-positive reviews than most of the other airbeds.  I'm somewhat
surprised (or, maybe not - lol) that you mentioned that it has an odor; I
don't think any of the Amazon.com reviews mentioned an odor, whereas with
some of the other airbeds - there were several complaints/comments about a
"chemical" or "plasticy" odor.  So I surmised that Aerobed was at least the
lesser of the evils as far as that's concerned.  Perhaps my thinking was
clouded by "wishful thinking" when I concluded that PVC was a material that
wouldn't offgass as much as polyurethane foam - that it wouldn't be in a
perpetual state of breaking-down.

That sounds like quite the adventure you had there with the Coleman airbed
as far as containing the "stink".  I will keep your solutions in mind should
things come to that.  Man - I hate how more and more consumer products seem
to offgass a disturbing chemical odor - in previous years, many of these
same products were manufactured in such a way that they had little-to-no
odor.  It seems to be a clear sign of worsened manufacturing standards that
more products on the market offgass an odor.  For example - every time I
wash my hair, I use a disposable plastic conditioning cap...and sit there
for several minutes with the cap on, letting the conditioner penetrate and
"work its magic".  I've been doing this for years.  About 10 years ago, I
bought a pack of conditioning caps that I finally used up in 2012 or 2013.
These disposable caps had no chemical odor.  Well, when those were used up -
I bought some replacement caps at the local Walmart....and I have been quite
dismayed at the persistent plasticy/rubbery/chemical odor of these caps.
When I place these caps on my head, I sometimes even get similar "chemical
sensitivity symptoms" that I get with polyurethane foam mattresses or
(synthetic) latex mattresses.

I thought that perhaps this was a "Walmart thing" - so I bought some similar
disposable conditioning caps from an Amazon.com vendor.  Well, what would
you know - those caps also had the same odor.  Standards have just gone to
pot, and we are paying the price.

I've also had similar problems with other simple consumer products that are
supposed to be innocuous - like plastic pill boxes, and paper towels.  The
situation with the consumer industry that results in all of these "stinky"
products is nuts.

I'm glad that the gels/filters have been helpful for you.  I need to use
mine more often - at least I could use one to warm up the color temperature
a bit when I'm using the computer near bedtime.  It just so happens that I
currently have a tv and a computer with "reasonable" screens (or at least
the tv screen can be adjusted to be reasonable).

~Svetaswan

i'd call it a perfume-type odor - 

sorry about the odor, karen. 

Not to mention massive amounts of "fumigants" used on international shipments.
I saw a video about one of them and workers that have to spray the stuff.
Not good.

> On 2/27/2014 7:49:19 AM, Patricia [via ES] ([hidden email]) wrote:
> > is the odor a 'nice' odor?
> i am discovering that many things - including my
> apple computer shipping box - have a 'nice' odor
> and i do believe it is not good for me. i try to
> keep that box closed and as far away as possible.
> i have smelled it most recently in some plastic
> lids for mason jars. it appears to be a 'made in
> china' odor. i read yesterday that their pollution
> is 8x the world health organization limit. and so
> our

best to buy as little 'new' stuff as possible. 

Oh, yes - I had to make sure that the Aerobed I ordered didn't have the pump built into the mattress.  And also - the fact that Aerobed was using the term "coils" to describe a feature of their mattress made me nervous - as "coils" can imply metal springs.  I emailed Aerobed to clarify this issue - and was assured that the bed (at least the particular one I ordered) had no internal metal components.

And I was vaguely aware that Coleman and Aerobed were connected - at least here in the U.S..  Hopefully Coleman doesn't tank Aerobed's quality.  I'm beyond tired of the quality of everything going down the tubes.  

I mentioned "Walmart" in an earlier post as seeming to be a major peddler of cheap, smelly "Made in China" products.  Well, I recently had another experience in Walmart that is related to what we've been talking about.  Late one night - I got a craving for sweets (darn those sugar-bomb cravings !) - and headed to a nearby Walmart.  While traversing the store, I approached an area of the store in which a strong, "rubbery", "chemical" odor was practically overpowering.  I didn't even get close to any product - I was just walking in the center of the main aisles, and noticed that the air was infused with this odor that seemed to be wafting from the products (Made in China?).  Actually, the odor wasn't repulsive - a small part of me even wanted to linger - as I can oddly find "rubbery" type smells appealing.  But it was concerning nonetheless that so many products seemed to be offgassing this odor.  What exactly are these chemicals?  How safe are they?