Lawsuit Claims Amazon's Top-Selling Mattress a 'Health Hazard'

Customers who bought a bestselling mattress sold on Amazon and at retailers nationwide are suing the manufacturer amid claims that fiberglass fibers in the product have damaged their health.

Zinus, Inc., is fielding multiple lawsuits over its “Green TeaMattress." Among the claims is a proposed class-action lawsuit led by a California woman who is representing several thousand people.

"It's not hyperbole to say that this has ravaged thousands of individuals' lives from across the United States," James Radcliffe, a personal injury lawyer with Cueto Law, told the洛杉矶安吉les Times.

Radcliffe's firm started a 2020 lawsuit on behalf of Amanda Chandler and Robert Durham of Illinois, who said they spent months in a hotel and paid more than $20,000 in professional mediation services after a Zinus memory foam mattress purchased at Walmart for their child contaminated their home with fiberglass in 2019.

Another woman, Vanessa Gutierrez of Los Angeles, told theTimesthat the mattress she bought for her 4-year-old daughter had cost her nearly $20,000 in damages and leftscarsfrom the fiberglass on the girl's chest and calves.

One reviewer on Amazon warned that they unzipped the outer cover of the mattress and "unleashed [an] invisible fiberglass storm into our house,"CBS Newsreported.

A representative from Zinus toldCBS Newsthat the fiberglass is "standard in the mattress industry" and isn't considered hazardous by the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC).

"Most consumer complaints about fiberglass being released from mattresses that have been reviewed by staff involved the outer cover being removed or damaged. If the outer cover remains intact, then the exposure to fiberglass particles is expected to be minimal," the CSPC toldCBS News.

California's Department of Public Health conducted a study published in theInternational Journal of Environmental Research and Public Healthin February finding that fiberglass fibers had "a potential risk of consumer exposure if the zipper on the outer cover is opened."

Fiberglass is a less costly fire-retardant material. The queen-sizedGreen Teamemory foam mattress sells for about $310 on Amazon. It includes instructions warning customers not to remove the outer mattress cover, to protect the fire barrier inside, Zinus toldCBS News.

Amazon did not respond toCBS News' requests for comment. Walmart did and noted that it and other retailers have been dropped from the initial lawsuit.

更多的信息

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has more on mattresses.

SOURCES:CBS新闻;洛杉矶安吉les Times

By Cara Murez HealthDay Reporter

Copyright © 2021 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

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