Help Family Overcome Fiberglass Exposure Nightmare

In 2017, my husband and I needed a new mattress. We shopped around for awhile but at the time we were a low-ranking military family and $3-5k for a mattress was not in budget for us. We came across “bed in a box” memory foam mattresses on Amazon for much cheaper so we bought one. Think Zinus, Nectar, Casper,etc. It turned out to be the biggest mistake of our current lives.

In 2022, a California woman filed a lawsuit against Zinus for fiberglass exposure from her Zinus mattress infiltrating her home and making her family sick. You must be thinking that isn’t possible, but oh, let me tell you. It is.

Fiberglass is heavily (or was) widely used in cheap matttresses as a flame retardant. There are regulations in place requiring a certain level of flame retardant for mattresses to pass safety inspection. You are not to remove the cover. Ever. Because when you do, thousands of tiny fiberglass fibers are released into your home, which then further break down and get into your HVAC system. Exposure is causing rashes, sickness in pets and animals, increased respiratory illnesses, and in some cases cancer.

Now back to us. Three days ago I was examining our mattress in an interest in getting a new one.Yep- you guessed it- it’s a Zinus. I moved it slightly to read a tag and stuck my hand right in a “pile of glitter.” It started itching, and I took a shower. I used my flashlight on my

Phone to examine it further and realized my entire bed was glittering like an art gproject. Google led me straight to the answer- it’s Fiberglass. Leaking from our mattress. And unbeknownst to us, all over our things.

I spent the first 30 minutes in total shock. Then I examined the rest of my home. I walked in horror from room to room, finding more tiny evidence as I went. My children’s mattresses are covered (which I had placed mattress toppers on from OUR mattress, thus transferring their sleeping spaces from SAFE to INHALING GLASS). Their clothes are covered. Surgaces in our home have evidence of contamination. All of my scrubs, my husbands uniforms, our towels, linens, dog beds, and even the walls. Glitter. I had no idea this entire time.

We have been dealing with chronic sinusitis, coughing, rashes, and random bouts of vomiting and nausea for months. The pediatrician couldn’t figure out why my son claws himself so bad he bleeds. I wake up with throat rashes. My husband can’t breathe well. None of us sleep.

Just to find out that a fucking mattress we bought from Amazon is now the thing that just contaminated every surface in our home.

We now have to spend THOUSANDS of dollars in replacement furniture and clothing. I have to run air purifiers and clean everything with vinegar. Gallons of vinegar. Everything will need to be removed, and cleaned with protective suits and glasses. We need to buy a vacuum with a HEPA filter, new clothes, and 3 new mattresses. At the very LEAST.

We have spent the last 3 days in shock and barricading in the basement on air mattresses where it’s safe to breathe. Not surprisingly, we have gotten the best sleep in months.

Now we have to spend thousands of dollars THAT WE DO NOT HAVE to buy cleaning supplies to attempt to decontaminate, and then replace whatever we are unsuccessful in doing so.

We just paid off debt and were so excited to be able to breathe and put money in savings again. This will easily financially ruin us.

Please, if you can, do not buy this mattress. Or ANY bed in a box on Amazon. A few quick tiktok searches on fiberglass mattresses will tell you all the brands that do this. Please throw away your cheap mattresses. Do not allow yourselves to be facing the possibility of losing everything you’ve worked for for decades over saving a few hundred dollars on a mattress.

We never once opened it, and it is now ruining my family’s life. If you can find it in your hearts to help us through this, I would be so grateful. We have no idea how much it willl cost to replace everything, but any little bit helps.

I am overwhelmed. Scared. Angry. Ready to call the fucking media. But none of that will help clear out my home and rid my family’s belongings of fiberglass. But anything any of you are willing to donate will.

Thank you.