Dow Polyurethanes sponsors SSA environmental, safety program

Will help support consumer education, training efforts

Furniture Today Staff -- Furniture Today, December 7, 2010

FRIANT, Calif. — Dow Polyurethanes, a Dow Chemical business unit, has become the lead sponsor of the Specialty Sleep Assn.'s Environmental and Safety Program.

Dow's support will help the SSA to develop a new consumer education section on its website, a training module for retail sales associates, and a social networking platform, all designed to give greater guidance to consumers on buying environmentally friendly sleep products, officials said.

"Dow Polyurethanes demonstrates its commitment to the bedding industry by offering innovative technologies and supporting leading efforts to develop standards for sustainability and consumer education," said Umberto Torresan, North American market manager for Dow Polyurethanes. "The SSA's new environmental program is one of the key initiatives helping consumers better understand the composition of the products they are buying and their impact on our environment."

SSA President Dale Read said the Dow sponsorship is an important step in the consumer education portion of the group's program. He said the additions to the SSA website were under way, and that the retail sales associate training program and the social networking platforms would be complete within 60 days.

In its three-level seal program, the SSA offers seals that can be affixed to the mattress to explain what environmental and safety standards have been met, and a label in which the manufacturer lists the ingredients inside the mattress, officials said.

Boyd Specialty Sleep and Natura World are the first two national manufacturers to join the program.