WEBMD – Would you drive your car 30,000 miles without an oil change? When it comes to your mattress, you’ve probably logged 30,000 hours of sleep on it after 10 years.
That’s a decade’s worth of sweat, saliva, and dead skin on top of your box springs. All that gross stuff may draw unwanted guests — and health problems — to your bedroom.
Dust Mites
You shed a half a billion skin cells every day. Over time, many settle into the cracks and crevices of your mattress. Dead skin is a feast for hungry dust mites.
These tiny bugs and their droppings can set off allergies or asthma. How many mites? An Ohio State University study estimates that 100,000 to 10 million of them may be hanging out in your mattress.
Bedbugs
These blood suckers start feeding when you hit the sack. They hide in your mattress seams, sheets, and bedroom furniture.
You may wake up with red, itchy bite marks and spots of blood on your bedding. Bedbugs can hitch a ride to your home on your luggage from a place that’s infested, like a hotel room or dormitory.
Harsh Chemicals
You may be breathing in toxic fumes while your slumber. A recent study found that body heat may help release volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from your mattress.
These come mainly from petroleum-based polyurethane and chemicals like formaldehyde and flame retardants in the mattress. The levels weren’t troubling for adults, but a bigger worry for kids. Researchers found no bad health effects, but more study is needed to be sure.
Fungus and Bacteria
The average adult sweats 26 gallons a year in bed. That makes your mattress a warm, moist home for fungus and bacteria.
Recent lab tests from swabs taken from 7-year-old mattresses found more than 16 million colony-forming units of bacteria per square inch …
