 Bio
based foams utilize sustainable crops like corn, soybeans, sunflower
seeds, and even castor beans but it’s not like we grow a corn stalk and
turn it into a mattress rather we utilize a portion of in this case corn
as a key components in making of bio based foams. What one must first
understand is that when a company makes flexible foams such as
polyurethane or visco elastic memory foam manufacturers traditionally
have used petroleum derived reactants called polyol and isocyanate. Over
the years with the increase of crude oil prices, the higher costs have
pushed technology forward.Today
manufacturers are able to reduce cost and take advantage of sustainable
resources like the above mentioned. Resplenishishable resources like
corn and soybeans play an important role. Foam manufactures have started
taking some of the pressure off at least a portion of the crude needed
to build flexible foams. Foam suppliers have been able to replace at
least a portion of the petroleum-based polyols with
renewable soy-based polyols. In order to make traditional
flexible PU foam, petroleum-derived reactants called polyol
and isocyanate, are needed. Now that the price of crude oil have
increased the cost of PU reactants have as well, biobased
polyol substitutes for the petroleum-based polyols
are a cheaper alternative.
The fact is foam must be properly cured
(aired out) and whether that takes place in the plant that makes the
foam or at the mattress manufacturer , foam needs to properly cure and
minimize smell. This works in a similar way to the way that
paint dries. Once paint has fully dried the VOC’s volatile organic
compounds have become more stable and they pose little to no threat in
the same way foam needs to “dry”. In addition to the many chemicals used
to build foams, there are also fire retardants added to some flexible
foams especially more dense foams to modify combustion characteristics
and retard flames.
As with many products today supply is
becoming limited and demand is becoming greater we all are beginning to
feel the pinch especially in the grocery stores. So much of
those demands for foods in the grocery stores that rely on corn and
soybeans have increased some food costs. Recently more promising avenues
such as castor beans have showed promise in taking the heat off corn and
soybeans. The truth is nothing in the process of making foam resembles
the corn, soybeans, or sunflower seeds that we started with, so bio
based foams are no healthier since the end manufacturing process is the
same as traditional methods. |
