Short Summary Response to Trevor Butterworth attacks.doc

Short Summary Response to Trevor Butterworth attacks on PeopleForCleanBeds.org and Mark Strobel. See Mr. Butterworth’s article at:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/trevor-butterworth/panic-in-the-bedroom-act_b_71654.html

http://www.stats.org/stories/2007/attack_killer_mattresses_nov6_07.htm

Also see a more detailed response in the previous post below.

 

Here are some key facts you will see in the highlights of the flawed government risk assessment. http://www.peopleforcleanbeds.org/CPSC_Risk_Assessment_Selected_Pages_Highlighted_4.pdf

 

They excluded and did not study children under five. A proper risk assessment always includes young children. This one should because even crib mattresses must be flame proof and now often contain both Boric Acid and Antimony. The European study may not have conclusive proof of a link to SIDS, but it did prove Antimony leaches through vinyl on crib mattresses.

 

They studied only 3 of the 8 main chemicals used to flameproof mattresses.

 

They proved these three chemicals leach to the surface of mattresses and measured significant amounts of toxins contacting our bodies.

 

They made ridiculously low skin absorption assumptions of only 2/1,000’s for Antimony, 1/1,000’s for DBDPO, and 1/10,000’s for Boric Acid.

 

The risk assessment basically failed independent review.

 

The reviewer complained strongly they changed the rules of the “Child Sucking Test” and then did not even apply it to young children who the test was designed to protect.

 

The reviewer complained many times their assumptions of safe levels of toxin absorption do not agree with other agencies.

 

Indeed, what the CPSC assumes is safe is 320 times more for DBDPO, and 5,750 times more for Antimony, than what the EPA says is safe to absorb.

 

Even with low absorption assumptions the CPSC says we will absorb .8 mg Antimony every night. Even .8 mg is 27 times more than the EPA says is safe.

 

Proper assumptions of absorption rates and/or safe levels would have proven all three chemicals toxic, with their own calculations. In other words the government cheated to make this appear safe.

 

See more at Strobel’s blog http://poisonbeds.blogspot.com/ and a lot of detail with links to references at www.PeopleForCleanBeds.org