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More sources offering CertiPUR-US foams

By David Perry -- Furniture Today, May 24, 2010

LOUDON, Tenn. —

A surge in the number of foam manufacturers offering CertiPUR-US-registered foams is putting this new, voluntary certification and labeling program on the radar screens of an increasing number of furniture and bedding manufacturers and retailers.

The latest companies to offer CertiPUR-US-certified foams include Flexible Foam Products of Spencerville, Ohio; FXI Foamex Innovations of Media, Pa.; Premier Foam of Newnan, Ga.; Advanced Urethane Technologies/Sleep Innovations of West Chicago, Ill., and Sinomax USA of Houston.

The program also got a boost recently when bedding major Simmons announced that all of the polyurethane-based foams in the company's mattress lines have earned CertiPUR-US certification.

Foam officials say that retailers are helping spark interest in the program.

“We're seeing a number of retailers who are specifying CertiPUR-US certified foams,” said Robert Luedeka, executive director of the Alliance for Flexible Polyurethane Foam. He predicts the trend will continue.

“The CertiPUR-US label certifies the foam has passed independent testing to assure compliance with the program's voluntary standards for emissions and content,” he said. “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.

One of the companies to recently register a visco-elastic foam is Sinomax USA, whose parent company is headquartered in China, officials said.

The CertiPUR-US certification process subjects flexible polyurethane foam products to a battery of independent laboratory examinations including tests for VOCs and chemical analysis. Compliant products also must be manufactured without the 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.

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 Thomson Research Associates.

Conceived by the Polyurethane Foam Assn., CertiPUR-US is a program of the Alliance for Flexible Polyurethane Foam. The program is adapted from, and closely aligned with, the European CertiPUR program. Two key additions to the CertiPUR-US program include minimum physical performance criteria and shorter intervals between recertification testing.

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