Poison Mattress

We were trying to get
The perfect mattress,
With the mystical quality
Of being simultaneously
Soft and firm,
All in the quest
For a perfect night's sleep.
What we got
Seemed to fit the bill
Without emaciating
Our checkbook too much,
Until we brought it home.
As soon as we brought it in
Everyone in the apartment
Started coughing
And developing
Respiratory distress.
We thought we had all
Come down with a bad
Case of the flu,
But it kept getting worse
And worse.
What we noticed
That seemed strange
Was that the coughing
Subsided the longer
We were away from
The apartment,
And started up again
As soon as we got back.
It was obvious
That something
In the apartment
Was making us sick.
It took a while until
We narrowed it down
To the new mattress.
We tried venting,
Putting in powerful fans
To blow the fumes out,
But that didn't help.
As soon as we
Placed the mattress outside
On the patio,
All of our symptoms
Began to disappear.
The mattress was offgassing,
Unbeknown to us
Giving off formaldehyde,
Poisoning us
While we slept,
Eat and breathed.
It was not a cheap mattress
Made in China,
But one manufactured
Here in the United States.
One possible solution
Would be to encase
The mattress in plastic,
But that has
Certain drawbacks as well.
What it highlighted
Was the danger
Of indoor pollution.
It turns out that
A multitude of things
Commonly found
In houses and apartments
Offgas volatile
Organic compounds.
The list includes
Paints, stains, varnishes,
Carpet, insulation, flooring,
Kitchen cabinets
And counter tops,
Plywood and particle board,
Paint and strippers,
Glues and adhesives,
Caulking compounds,
Soft or flexible plastics,
Shower curtains,
and many fire retardants.
Furniture and pressed wood
Are common culprits,
And even toys and tennis balls
Can give off
Toxic or irritant gases.
The new car smell
Is a product of offgassing.
Even the computer
On which I am writing
Offgasses.
Add cleaning supplies
And air fresheners,
Pesticides, packing foam
Synthetic fibers,
Fertilizers and fuels
To the mix,
And the home ends out
Far worse
Than the traffic bred smog
That envelopes
So many cities
Around the world.
This is especially of concern
When a new baby
Comes home.
His or her lungs
Are not fully developed,
And those VOC toxins
Can take a toll
On their health
And well being
Even more so
Than it does
On us adults.