Has The Cause of
Crib Death (SIDS) Been Found?
Toxic
Gases in Baby Crib Mattresses
By
Jane Sheppard
Sudden Infant Death Syndrome (SIDS). These
four words can incite a considerable amount
of terror in a parent of an infant. Sudden
infant death syndrome (SIDS), also known as
crib death or cot death, is the number one
cause of death for infants from one month
to one year of age. 90% of all SIDS deaths
are in babies under six months old. Ongoing
SIDS research occasionally leads to discoveries
of risk factors associated with these deaths,
but after almost 50 years, researchers say
they still do not know how or why it happens.
The prevailing official viewpoint on SIDS
is that the cause is unknown (SIDS Alliance
2001).
It may seem inconceivable that over a million
babies have died of this "syndrome",
and after almost half a century and many millions
of dollars spent, no one in this age of science
and technology can tell us why. But what parents
are virtually oblivious to (through no fault
of their own) is that a highly convincing
explanation for this tragedy has been found,
along with a simple means of eliminating it.
This explanation is backed by a significant
amount of evidence, but has been and continues
to be completely ignored by SIDS organizations,
the medical community, and the government
- for a variety of reasons, including politics,
financial liability, and vested interests.
Publication of these findings continues to
be denied and suppressed. The result is that
babies continue to be at risk from deaths
that may easily be prevented.
Toxic
Gases in Mattresses
Dr. Jim Sprott, OBE, a New Zealand scientist
and chemist, states with certainty that crib
death is caused by toxic gases, which can
be generated from a baby's mattress. Chemical
compounds containing phosphorus, arsenic and
antimony have been added to mattresses as
fire retardants and for other purposes since
the early 1950's. A fungus that commonly grows
in bedding can interact with these chemicals
to create poisonous gases (Richardson 1994).
These heavier-than-air gases are concentrated
in a thin layer on the baby's mattress or
are diffused away and dissipated into the
surrounding atmosphere. If a baby breathes
or absorbs a lethal dose of the gases, the
central nervous system shuts down, stopping
breathing and then heart function. These gases
can fatally poison a baby, without waking
the sleeping baby and without any struggle
by the baby. A normal autopsy would not reveal
any sign that the baby was poisoned (Sprott
1996).
In spite of denial and opposition from orthodox
SIDS organizations, no research has disproved
this gaseous poisoning explanation for crib
death. No valid criticism of this explanation
has ever been provided. This logical finding
explains every factor already known about
crib death, and is backed by scientific research
(Sprott 1996, 2000) and 11 years of practical
proof consisting of a crib death prevention
campaign that continues in New Zealand.
Ongoing research continues to support these
findings. A four and a half year study by
the Scottish Cot Death Trust published in
the British Medical Journal (November 2, 2002)
has shown that the re-use of infant mattresses
triples the risk of cot death (Tappin 2002).
Dr. Sprott explains that the risk of death
increases when mattresses are re-used from
one baby to the next because the fungus has
already had a chance to establish itself in
the used mattress. When the next baby uses
the same mattress, the fungus is soon active.
Toxic gas production begins sooner and is
generated in greater volume. It is known that
crib death rates increase markedly from the
first baby in a family to the second, and
from the second to the third, and so on (Mitchell
2001). Dr. Sprott warns, however, that new
mattresses can also be unsafe because fungal
growth can quickly become established in a
new mattress once a baby begins sleeping on
it (Sprott 2003).
The fundamental solution is urgent action
to eliminate all sources of phosphorus, arsenic
and antimony from all mattresses. But this
is not happening now, and is not likely to
happen anytime soon, so exposure to these
gases must be prevented. The intervening solution
is to prevent babies from being exposed to
the gases by wrapping mattresses in a gas-impermeable
cover made from high-grade polyethylene and
ensuring that bedding used on top of a wrapped
mattress does not contain any phosphorus,
arsenic or antimony.
A 100% successful crib death prevention campaign
has been going on in New Zealand for the past
11 years. Midwives and other healthcare professionals
throughout New Zealand have been actively
advising parents to wrap mattresses. During
this time, there has not been a single SIDS
death reported among the over 100,000 New
Zealand babies who have slept on mattresses
wrapped in a specially formulated polyethylene
cover. The number of crib deaths in New
Zealand that have occurred since mattress-wrapping
began in 1994 is about 810. The number of
crib deaths that have occurred in New Zealand
on a properly wrapped mattress is zero.
In early 2002, a German doctor published
the results of the New Zealand mattress-wrapping
campaign, including statistical analysis carried
out in conjunction with the University of
Munich (Kapuste 2002). The statistics showed
that the proof of the validity of mattress-wrapping
for crib death prevention was one billion times the level of proof generally
accepted by the medical community as proving
a scientific proposition.
Prior to the commencement of mattress-wrapping,
New Zealand had the highest crib death rate
in the world (2.1 deaths per 1000 live births).
Following the adoption of mattress-wrapping
by many parents in New Zealand, the New Zealand
crib death rate has fallen by 70%, and the
Pakeha (non-Maori) crib death rate has fallen
by an estimated 85% (NZMH). Pakeha parents
have adopted mattress-wrapping with enthusiasm.
"These reductions cannot be attributed
to orthodox cot death prevention advice,"
said Dr Sprott. "There has been no material
change in that advice since 1992. The only
significant change in cot death prevention
advice, which has occurred since 1994, is
the nationwide dissemination of my recommendations
to wrap babies' mattresses."
Parents
Are Denied Findings
So why isn't this profound and
critically important information making the
headlines of major newspapers or all over
the evening news? Why aren't crib death researchers
and the government of the United States telling
parents to wrap babies' mattresses? Why are
the manufacturers still adding fire retardants
and other chemicals to mattresses?
There are various reasons, but one possible
reason is that mattress manufacturers are
required to use fire retardants through government
regulations. Admitting that these chemicals
are causing deaths would mean admitting to
major liability. Furthermore, crib death research
has been a significant source of funding for
medical researchers in the U.S. Crib death
research funding has nearly stopped in New
Zealand as more people become aware that mattress-wrapping
is easy, cheap and 100% successful in preventing
this tragedy. Unfortunately, the ongoing complex
and expensive research that leads to the discovery
of "risk factors" for a so-called
"syndrome" has pushed aside the
simple and inexpensive solution of mattress-wrapping;
a solution that can do no harm.
The
Cot Death Cover-Up? (Penguin books, NZ,
1996), by Dr. Jim Sprott, reveals the amazing
story of denial on the part of crib death
researchers and the medical community, and
the failure of these entities to accept such
a simple explanation. Dr. Sprott first suggested
a toxic gas theory for crib death in 1986,
and in 1989 Barry Richardson of Britain, also
a consulting chemist acting independently,
publicized outstanding research proving the
finding. In response, the British government
set up expert committees to investigate the
findings. One committee published the Turner
Report, which recommended the removal of the
chemicals from baby mattresses and for babies
to be tested for antimony. A second committee
published the 1998 Limerick Report, which
is frequently cited by SIDS organizations
as finding no evidence to substantiate the
claim that toxic gases cause crib death. Contrary
to this publicity, the Limerick Report did
not disprove the theory (Fitzpatrick 1998)
- in fact, it provides further confirmation
of it (Sprott 2000).
The main orthodox crib death prevention recommendation
is to put babies to sleep on their backs.
We know that babies do still die when sleeping
on their backs, although face-up sleeping
does reduce the risk. The gases are denser
than air and tend to settle in a thin layer
directly on top of the mattress, so babies
sleeping face-down are more likely to inhale
a lethal dose of the gases. The gases are
also absorbed through babies' skin, and this
is one of the major reasons why face-up sleeping
provides only partial protection against crib
death (Sprott 1996).
However, no babies have died sleeping on
a properly wrapped mattress. This is crucial
information for parents. Eight babies continue
to die every night in the United States from
SIDS. Parents should be provided with the
information so that they are able to decide
for themselves whether they want to wait for
the SIDS research organizations or the government
to endorse mattress-wrapping or to "play
it safe" as many parents have done in
New Zealand. As Dr. Sprott points out and
no one has denied, "All New Zealand crib
deaths since mattress-wrapping began in late
1994 have occurred when parents have not wrapped
their babies' mattresses. An inexpensive,
non-toxic protective cover can surely do no
harm."
The assumption that our government agencies
do everything they can to protect our children
is naive. The U.S. Consumer Products Safety
Commission has stated that BabeSafe
mattress covers do not constitute any
safety risk to babies. These covers (manufactured
in New Zealand) are the only mattress covers
designed to protect babies from toxic gases
generated in mattresses. Yet even though BabeSafe
products are simple, inexpensive, and safe,
the FDA requires the manufacturer to go through
the expensive, complex, time-consuming procedure
of obtaining pre-market approval in order
for BabeSafe covers to be bulk imported into
the U.S.
Instead of putting unnecessary hurdles in
the way of a harmless and potentially live-saving
product, why don't the authorities endorse
mattress-wrapping in the U.S. to see if the
results achieved in New Zealand could be duplicated
here? The score in New Zealand is now 810
deaths (orthodox crib death prevention advice)
to none (mattress-wrapping). With so many
more babies born in the U.S. than in New Zealand,
the potential to save lives is dramatically
greater - thousands every year. Why should
even one baby be denied something that could
potentially save his or her life?
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Though the toxic gas explanation has not yet been 100% scientifically proven to cause crib death, why take any chances when you don't have to? The 100% successful cot death prevention campaign in New Zealand is enough evidence to warrant taking a precautionary approach.
The NaturePedic No-Compromise non-toxic crib mattress was designed by an environmental engineer to eliminate materials which may be toxic, hazardous, or otherwise potentially harmful to babies. This crib mattress does not contain any antimony, arsenic, or phosphorus. It does not contain PVC, phthalates, PBDEs, or polyurethane foam. The NaturePedic No-Compromise Baby Mattress does not need to be wrapped since it is designed to be safe for babies. - More
Information
Co-sleeping and Toxic Gases in Adult Mattresses
Factors
That May Increase the Risk of Crib Death (including
the vaccination link)
IMPORTANT NOTE:
Use the information provided here as an educational
resource for determining your options and
making your own informed choices. Healthy
Child does NOT make ANY claims that using
a non-toxic mattress or wrapping a mattress
will prevent SIDS since this has not been
100% scientifically proven. Vaccines are also
known to cause baby deaths and there may also be other factors involved in SIDS. However, the fact that
there have been no SIDS deaths among the vast
number of babies in New Zealand who have slept
on correctly wrapped mattresses is crucial
information for parents. This fact cannot
be denied and should not be suppressed. The
evidence is very compelling, and we believe
that parents should be informed so they can
make their own decisions on how to protect
their babies.
References
Fitzpatrick, M.G. 1998. SIDS and The Toxic
Gas Theory (letter), New Zealand Medical
Journal, October 9, 1998.
Kapuste, H. 2002. Giftige Gase im Kinderbett
("Toxic Gases in Infants' Beds"),
Zeitschrift fuer Umweltmedizin No.
44; January-April 2002:18-20
Mitchell, P.R. 2001. Analysis of Official
UK Statistics for Cot Deaths and Infant Deaths
by Other Causes, 1996-1999.
New Zealand Ministry of Health (NZMH) Cot
Death Statistics.
Richardson, B.A. 1994. Sudden Infant Death
Syndrome: A Possible Primary Cause. Journal
of Forensic Science Soc. Jul-Sep; 34(3):199-204.
SIDS Alliance. 2001. www.sidsalliance.org
Sprott, T.J. 2000. Critique of the 1998 UK
Limerick Report. www.cotlife2000.com
Sprott, T.J. 1996. The Cot Death Cover-Up?
Auckland, New Zealand: Penguin Books.
Sprott, T.J. 2000. Personal communication
with an officer of the Ministry of Health.
August 11, 2000.
Sprott, T.J. 2000.
Research Which Confirms and Supports the Toxic
Gas Theory For Cot Death
Sprott, T.J. 2003. The Cause of Cot Death
and How to Prevent It, Cot Life 2000,
March 2003
Tappin et al, Used infant mattresses and
sudden infant death syndrome in Scotland:
case-control study, British Medical Journal
2002; 325:1007
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Use the information provided on this site as an educational resource for determining your options and making your own informed choices. It is not intended as medical advice or to diagnose, prescribe, or treat any specific illness.