Does your mattress contain fiberglass? How to know and why it’s dangerous

Fiberglass particles can irritate skin, eyes, and lungs.

Some manufacturers started using fiberglass as a mattress flame retardant after other chemicals were found to be hazardous. But experts warn of these fiberglass risks.

Mattresses can be made of many different materials: traditional steel spring coils, foam, latex, cotton, and wool. But you may be surprised to see another material on the list: fiberglass.

In the past few years the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) has received more than 100 complaints from consumers who found themselves sneezing, wheezing, itching, and suffering other health consequences believed to be from fiberglass particles that leached out of their mattresses.

Fiberglass, made of glass and plastic, is used in some mattresses — often less expensive ones — as a fire retardant, according to Kelly Johnson-Arbor, MD, a medical toxicologist and co-director of the National Capitol Poison Center, who has studied the issue.

Other individuals have gone to social media platforms, like TikTok, to raise awareness. TikToker @heart.led (41.6K followers) posted a video in April explaining that she found out there was fiberglass in her mattress when she took the cover (the one that came with the mattress) off to try to clean it. “Now there is fiberglass all over my apartment — every surface,” she says in the video which so far has been viewed 4.3 million times. She explained that she had to get rid of many of her belongings that had been contaminated with the fiberglass as a result.

Another video on the same topic posted by TikToker @imcodyjacob (377.9K followers) last December has 21.2 million views.

While some mattresses are certified as being free of heavy metals and hazardous flame-retardant chemicals, these guarantees apply to the mattress foam only, and chemicals may still be present in mattress covers, says Dr. Johnson-Arbor, which means that people can be exposed to fiberglass even though they thought their mattresses were chemical free. Legislation has been introduced in California to make it illegal to use fiberglass in mattresses, their covers, or any other upholstered furniture.

If the cover rips on a mattress that contains fiberglass, those fibers can get everywhere, says Tasha Stoiber, PhD, a senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group (EWG), an environmental health advocacy organization. “They’re going to be in your carpet; they’re going to be in your HVAC (heating and air conditioning) system. They can cause respiratory distress and skin rashes.”

A class action lawsuit has been filed against at least one mattress manufacturer (Zinus) that sells mattresses containing fiberglass due to health and environmental concerns. This is a fairly new area of research, but several scientists and organizations have begun to address it.

What Is Fiberglass and What Health Risks Does It Pose?

Fiberglass is a man-made mineral fiber made of silica sand, limestone, recycled glass, and soda ash, according to the American Chemical Society (ACS). Fiberglass is often used as a cost-effective and long-lasting insulating material, since it has a lifespan of more than 50 years and does not need to be replaced on a regular basis. Fiberglass is also commonly utilized as a flame-retardant agent due to its heat-resistant properties.

Because it is inexpensive and both strong and lightweight, other uses include windows, roofing, boats, and bathtubs. And because it isn’t slippery, waterslides are often made of fiberglass.

As a material embedded in a boat or house, or even a mattress, fiberglass isn’t inherently dangerous says Kelly Johnson-Arbor.

Judy Echavez, a public affairs specialist at CPSC, said: “Fiberglass is a textile fiber product that can be used in a variety of products, generally for adding strength, fire-resistance, or other performance characteristics. It is recommended to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for washing and drying of any textile product, including mattress pads.”

She noted that this type of fiberglass used in textiles is not considered hazardous.

But if fiberglass particles are unleashed into the air they can irritate your eyes, skin, and lungs, as well as cause rashes, itching, and blisters if the material comes into contact with human skin.

Smaller particles are more dangerous than larger particles. A study by researchers with the California Department of Public Health found that if a mattress cover is ripped, the fiberglass particles were small enough to be potentially inhalable into the nose, mouth, and throat (though likely to large to get deep into the lungs).

Long-term exposure to fiberglass is associated with lung disease, according to Johnson-Arbor, while even short term exposure can cause lung inflammation. Research backs this up. The particles can also cause eye damage, bleeding, and scarring if they come in contact with eyes.

So, Why Is Fiberglass Used in Mattresses?

Johnson-Arbor says fiberglass is often used by mattress manufacturers to meet fire safety standards. The Consumer Product Safety Commission requires that mattress manufacturers make sure that if a room caught on fire, that the mattress would not go up in flames immediately, to give people time to escape.

Some chemicals previously used by mattress manufacturers were found to be linked to cancer. And natural fire-retardant materials that can be added to mattresses, such as wool and cotton, are expensive. So some mattress manufacturers began adding fiberglass.

More recently, however, consumers have begun reporting that fiberglass shards escaping from mattress covers are also causing health issues, according to the Environmental Working Group (EWG).

Many mattresses have covers specifically to encase the fiberglass and keep it from leaching out. But covers can tear, unleashing the fiberglass, or be ripped by a pet. And since many mattress covers don’t have labels indicating there is fiberglass inside, even if the cover has a tag with instructions not to unzip — and not all do — many people have no idea that unzipping the cover could cause health problems, and often wash the cover if it becomes soiled.

The aforementioned 2022 study from the California Department of Public Health investigated and tested the covers of four mattresses (three for adults and one for children or toddlers).

The researchers found that two of the mattress covers, including the one for children, contained over 50 percent fiberglass in its inner layers and that up to 1 percent of the fiberglass had migrated to adjacent fabric layers, “representing a potential risk of consumer exposure if the zipper on the outer cover is opened,” according to the report.

Yet the child’s mattress had no labeling indicating fiberglass, and the adult mattress that had fiberglass had labeling that didn’t make it clear to consumers that the mattress cover contained fiberglass, according to the study.

How to Know if Your Mattress Contains Fiberglass — and What to Do About It

CDPH has published a fact sheet to educate consumers about the risks of fiberglass in mattresses and how to protect themselves.

They and other experts offer guidance on how to possibly avoid a fiberglass mattress or protect yourself if you do buy one or own a mattress that may contain fiberglass.

1. Read the label. Unfortunately, not all mattresses that contain fiberglass say so, or say so explicitly on the mattress label. A label may say nothing at all about fiberglass contents. Besides the term “fiberglass,” some terms to look for are: “glass fiber,” “glass wool,” “fiber glass” and “glass fiber reinforced plastic,” which are all terms for fiberglass, says Dr. Stoiber.
2. Call the mattress company. If the label on a mattress you want to buy doesn’t indicate whether the mattress or cover contains fiberglass, call the company, says Stoiber. Ask what materials were used in your specific mattress model for fireproofing. If they can’t or won’t tell you, find another mattress that has the information on the label or is made by a company that will give you the information you need. While these mattresses are likely to be more expensive, natural flame retardants on the market now include cotton and wool, so check the label.
3. Check if others have filed complaints about the same mattress you have. Go to CPSC’s website and search for the term “fiberglass” and your specific mattress in the search engine for unsafe products to find out if others have filed complaints about your model of mattress containing fiberglass.
4. Don’t be confused by certification. According to CDPH, some mattresses have a safety label from a certifying agency called CertiPUR-US, but that agency only certifies the safety of the foam inside a mattress, and not other materials that may be in the mattress cover such as fiberglass, according to the agency.
5. Keep mattress covers sealed. “Never unzip an outer mattress cover,” adds Johnson-Arbor, and if you find a tear in it, get rid of the mattress. She emphasizes that point: “People should not be unzipping these mattress covers for any reason,” particularly if the mattress label says not to remove the cover. Just do not unzip it, she says, “even if it gets dirty, if it’s soiled with feces or vomit or urine.” If uncleanable with the cover on, it would be safer to discard the mattress.
6. Consider using an additional mattress cover. Jeffrey May, senior scientist at May Indoor Air Investigations in Newton, Massachusetts, and author of the book My House is Killing Me, conducts indoor air quality checks in residential buildings, office spaces and schools. He recommends buying a polyurethane cover for a mattress which will keep any possible fiberglass shards from leaching. “You can wash the polyurethane cover and avoid coming into contact with any fiberglass,” says May.
7. File a complaint with the CPSC. Use the agency’s website to report any unsafe products. Include if you’ve been harmed by fiberglass in a mattress or cover.
8. Take immediate action if you notice fiberglass is coming out of your mattress or cover. CDPH advises first putting on goggles, a mask that covers your nose and mouth, and clothing that covers your skin before cleaning up the fiberglass. Use a vacuum with a HEPA filter to remove the shards, but don’t sweep or you risk spreading the fibers. Wash anything that came into contact with fiberglass (such as blankets, sheets, and the clothes you wore to clean up the exposed fiberglass) separately from other laundry, and run the washing machine on the rinse cycle between loads to remove any remaining fiberglass shards. Throw out anything that might be difficult to wash, such as stuffed animals with labels that say they can’t go into the washing machine.

And if you get rid of your mattress, CDPH says to cover the mattress before removing it to prevent fiberglass shards from getting out unintentionally.