The Specialty Sleep Association (SSA) announced that following a year of working sessions and public comment, the SSA is offering a revised and upgraded SSA Environmental & Safety Program® for mattresses with “green claims.”
“Updates have been made to the SSA Environmental & Safety Program® for those manufacturers wishing to make “green claims” substantiated by testing and documentation, as well as through use of established and recognized certifications, standards and government regulations,” stated Dale Read, President of the SSA. “New this year is the addition of a Level IV Seal of Approval to provide further substantiation to consumers who are seeking finished mattresses that are fully certified as organic by the third-parties recognized by the USDA.”
SSA’s Seal of Approval now applies to four levels of claims typically made in the marketing of mattresses from use of bio-based materials and components to a fully certified organic mattress. To earn the Level IV distinction, Read notes the mattress must achieve stringent benchmarks including 95% certified organic and bio-based materials in fabric, quilt and core (unless steel is used) and achieve third-party certification of the finished mattress in addition to testing for volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
Other updates to the SSA’s program resulting from public comments include adding an air and water option for Levels I and II and updating testing and certification requirements in Levels II and III. The full program can be viewed at www.sleepinformation.org/environmental.
Last July the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) took action against three mattress / bedding manufacturers barring these manufacturers from advertising mattresses as free from Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s) without scientific evidence to back up their claims. In addition to challenging the companies’ VOC-free claims, the FTC charged that two of the companies made unsupported claims that their mattresses were chemical-free and lacked odor. The FTC also challenged one company’s claim that its mattresses are made from 100 percent natural materials, and another company’s claim that its mattresses were certified by an organic mattress organization. “Updates to the SSA’s program come at exactly the right time,” stated Vicki Worden, President of Worden Associates, Inc. and sustainability consultant to the SSA. “Last July the FTC cracked down on unsubstantiated claims by several mattress companies. The FTC has caught up with our industry, and manufacturers can no longer make unsubstantiated “natural” or “organic” claims,” stated Worden.
Read indicated that the purpose of the SSA’s program is “…to walk manufacturers through the process of substantiating each of their “green” claims. It is designed to support truth in marketing to the benefit of both the consumer and the manufacturer.”
Each level requires the creation of a Consumer Disclosure Label (CDL) to be transmitted to the consumer along with the SSA’s Level I through IV Seal of Approval. Participating manufacturers, including Boyd Specialty Sleep, Innomax, Naturepedic, Paramount, and Spring Air, who have been early adopters, must agree to licensing requirements and provide full substantiation for all environmental claims. The substantiations must cover claims ranging from percentages of bio-based content and certifications of flexible polyurethane foam, latex, gels, and textiles as well as claims about certified organic materials used in the mattress. Also manufacturers must declare on a Consumer Disclosure Label (CDL) the type and location of fire barrier in each model that earns the SSA Environmental and Safety Program Seal of Approval.