Simmons Bedding Company announced that all of the polyurethane-based foams in the company’s mattress lines have earned CertiPUR-US certification.
A surge in the number of foam manufacturers offering CertiPUR-US registered foams is putting this new, but well-respected voluntary certification and labeling program on the radar screen of an increasing number of furniture and bedding manufacturers and retailers.
The latest companies to offer CertiPUR-US certified foams include: Flexible Foam Products, Inc, Spencerville, OH, FXI Foamex Innovations, Media, PA, Premier Foam, Inc., Newnan, GA, Advanced Urethane Technologies/Sleep Innovations, West Chicago, IL, and Sinomax USA, Inc., Houston, TX. These companies join Future Foam, Council Bluffs, IA, Hickory Springs Mfg. Co., Hickory, NC, NCFI Polyurethanes, Mount Airy, NC and Prestige Fabricators, Asheboro, NC that were the first to offer foams that meet CertiPUR-US stringent environmental, health and safety guidelines for foam used in upholstered furniture and bedding.
"Retail interest is also driving the momentum," explains Robert Luedeka, Executive Director of the Alliance for Flexible Polyurethane Foam. "We’re seeing a number of retailers who are specifying CertiPUR-US certified foams, including Nature’s Sleep and BedinaBox.com that are specifying certified foams exclusively."
Luedeka predicts this trend to grow as an increasing number of manufacturers and retailers specify CertiPUR-US foam products. Luedeka says: "The CertiPUR-US label certifies the foam has passed independent testing to assure compliance with the program’s voluntary standards for emissions and content. We are also seeing CertiPUR-US used as a value-added marketing tool to answer the questions of a growing number of consumers who want a greater level of comfort and confidence in the furniture and mattresses they buy."
CertiPUR-US certification is open to all producers of furniture and bedding foam products. In fact, one of the recent companies to register a viscoelastic foam is Sinomax USA, whose parent company is headquartered in China. To earn CertiPUR-US certification, foams must undergo laboratory testing and adhere to the U.S. Voluntary Physical Performance and Environmental Certification Guidelines for Flexible Polyurethane Foam for Use in Furniture and Bedding Items.
The CertiPUR-US certification process subjects FPF products to a battery of independent laboratory examinations including tests for VOCs and chemical analysis. Compliant products must also be manufactured without use of prohibited materials such as ozone-depleting CFCs, methylene chloride, PBDE fire retardants, lead, mercury and other materials of concern. CertiPUR-US also sets baseline requirements for foam physical performance that can contribute to foam comfort and durability.
Individual foams in six different categories may be certified only after passing rigorous independent laboratory testing and must be recertified every six months for the first year and, annually thereafter for foams. This year, the Alliance for Flexible Polyurethane Foam will begin implementing its random sample checks of products in the marketplace to verify that only compliant foams are being sold and marketed under the CertiPUR-US seal.
In addition, flexible polyurethane foam raw materials, equipment and technology companies may become CertiPUR-US program sponsors. Current sponsors include The Dow Chemical Company, the Center for the Polyurethanes Industry, ICL-IP America, Inc. and Thompson Research Associates.
Conceived by the Polyurethane Foam Association, CertiPUR-US is now a program of Alliance for Flexible Polyurethane Foam, Inc. The program is adapted from, and closely aligned with, the European CertiPUR program, developed in 2002 by Europur, the association of European flexible polyurethane foam block manufacturers. Two key additions in the CertiPUR-US program include the U.S. minimum physical performance criteria and shorter intervals between recertification testing.
More information is available at www.certipur.us.
CertiPUR-US is a registered certification mark of Alliance for Flexible Polyurethane Foam, Inc.