First, let me share with you some of the history concerning the circumstances that led up to my first exposure to the revelation that there was an environmental danger, which was commonly present in crib mattresses and how it appeared to be related to SIDS.

During a trip to New Zealand in October of 1996, while glancing through a stack of magazines in the corner of the room of our bed and breakfast, my eye caught the front page of a magazine entitled North and South. The headline starkly stated: "I know the cause of crib death. It’s the mattress." Little did I know, but that article was about to change my entire life. A short time later, at dinner, with our hosts, I couldn’t resist bringing up the subject.

"The article I just read about cot death, by Jim Sprott, in your local magazine has me fascinated, because it appears logical and makes common sense.," I recall blurting out in an attempt to change the subject of our dinner conversation.

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"Well, if you are interested, you ought to give Dr. Sprott a call in the morning," my wife responded in an obvious attempt to not have the conversation altered to such a depressing topic. Intent upon not being side tracked, I ventured another comment. "What do you Kiwis think about Jim Sprott?" (Kiwi is a common word sometimes used for the general population of New Zealand.)

"Well, I must say he’s persistent, cantankerous and not easily intimidated by the local Cot Death Association, (cot death is a term commonly used in New Zealand, to describe SIDS). He’s gone head to head with Dr. Tonkin, the most prominent member of the Cot Death Association, as well as the top medical doctors,, and more than held his own, as near as I can determine," one of our hosts, Jim, responded.

"Personally, I like Sprott because the man appears to be doing and saying something important, while the other so called experts just talk. I honestly believe he is convinced that cot death is caused by environmental and socioeconomic factors, rather than medical factors, and as a consequence, should be preventable," offered Sue, our hostess, who went on to say, "frankly, I think they’re now afraid to even debate him."

Convinced that I needed to know more, the next morning I felt compelled to call the magazine, in order to find out more about Sprott, so I dialed the number and surprisingly was given Jim Sprott’s home telephone number. "Jim Sprott here. Sorry but I can’t ... please leave your name and number," I heard his machine telling me. After leaving my local as well as my San Diego numbers, my wife and I prepared to return to the Auckland airport for our flight back to the States.

"Dr. Davis, you are the first doctor from the States, who has paid any attention to Dr. Barry Richardson’s gas poisoning explanation for SIDS, or my own efforts here in New Zealand." was the message I found on my answering machine, when we finally arrived at our home. I responded immediately, knowing he was probably having breakfast with the time difference between countries.

Dr. Sprott was at home and in the course of our subsequent conversation, I became convinced that our New Zealand hosts had been quite correct about Jim Sprott and, as a result, I personally became more convinced that I was on to something very important. At the conclusion of our discussion, I gratefully accepted his offer to send more materials and a copy of his recently published book regarding Cot Death. Prior to hanging up Dr. Sprott added, "You should give Barry Richardson a ring, Dr. Davis, because he’s the one who put together everything I believed was happening when I did my South Island study in 1986. His number in Great Britain is," he concluded.

After reviewing the material I received several days later, which supported an extremely interesting and convincing case for a mildew - polyvinyl chloride (PVC) interaction as the cause of the poisoning, which resulted in crib death, I realized the evidence, at best, was circumstantial and at worse, anecdotal. I also became aware that Dr. Sprott was also being aggressively counter-attacked by the New Zealand medical community, his Cot Death Association, as well as the local mattress manufacturers. I knew that I had no choice but to call him again, because truthfully, I was getting cold feet.

"How are you managing to deal with all of the backlash and criticism you have been forced to cope with, as the result of your publicity?" I asked. "No problem. I’m used to taking unpopular positions. My background is in forensic chemistry. I’ve been an expert witness in many legal cases involving unpopular blokes and causes, so I’m used to pressure. In regard to this hypothesis, I’m certain that I am right, so I’m quite comfortable dealing with the fallout."

Reassured, after a lengthy conversation I placed a number of calls to SIDS researchers here in the United States and, in response to those attempts, learned nothing new about the gas hypothesis, because no one in my profession appeared to have ever heard about it. One pediatric physician, however, who happened to be a long time friend I might add, laughed when I explained the hypothesis, while another said that he had read an editorial in a British medical journal, which he recalled stated that the gas hypothesis had been disproved.

At the very least, the physician who laughed was kind enough to send me a copy of an article he had written and recently presented at an International meeting on the subject of SIDS, which concluded that it would be unlikely that a single cause for SIDS would be identified. He went on to state that, "In all likelihood, the cause will be found to be extrinsic, or outside of the victim. The explanation would be, in all likelihood, that the mechanism of death in cases of SIDS would be found to be due to a combination of an interaction and circumstances".

I was stunned by the words, "interaction," followed by "circumstances," because Sprott had also explained the mechanism of death as an interaction, which statistically affected lower socioeconomic groups (circumstances) at a rate of four to ten times more often than the wealthy.

"Could it be possible that doctors, in general, and SIDS researchers, in particular, were missing the forest, because of the trees?" I wondered.

Over the next several weeks I placed calls to former pediatric colleagues, who had worked with me in Boston, who were at that time located in prestigious places like Boston, Chicago, Palo Alto and Chapel Hill. The result of these conversations was similar; no one knew what I was talking about when I mentioned the mildew-PVC interaction, gas generation, accidental poisoning hypothesis for SIDS.

"As a matter of fact, here in the Bay Area, we don’t consider crib death much of a problem any more," I heard a respected friend tell me.

"But 3500 babies continue to die each year. The Back to Sleep Campaign, which incidentally your pediatric academy was initially reluctant to endorse, I might add, has cut the death rate by only 38%. The problem may not be of concern to you in Palo Alto, but it continues to be a major cause of death in Fresno, Bakersfield and San Bernardino," I angrily retorted, based on the statistical tables I had received from the State of California.

Somewhat dismayed by the apparent lack of knowledge, as well as interest, on the part of my colleagues, I decided to call a local San Diego expert. After explaining in detail the reason for my call, his secretary put me through to his office.

"My name is Dr. Davis. Do you have time to answer a few questions about SIDS"? I asked.

"Of course. Go right ahead," I heard in response. Encouraged, I continued. "I recently read a report and saw a television documentary from England entitled The Cook Report, which concerned an accidental poisoning cause for SIDS."

"Nonsense. That was disproved in 1994 or 1995," I heard before I could start my question.

"But since that editorial, which is also familiar to me, have you become aware that liver tissue samples taken from crib death victims were positive for extremely high levels of antimony? It was found that antimony levels in over 50% of those samples that were tested from SIDS victims were significantly elevated, but this was not the case in non-crib death cases", I responded, somewhat defensively.

"Perhaps so, but they were probably contaminated from the formaldehyde that was used as a preservative," was the brush off comment.

"But wouldn’t formaldehyde also contaminate non-SIDS death samples," I heard myself saying.

"Good point. You should look into that," I faintly heard as he said good-bye. The phone went dead.

After describing this conversation to my wife later that day, I found myself once again saying, "Why did I get involved in the first place? Richardson and Sprott may be crazy. I don’t need this."

"Stop. Your intuition is good. The problem is that you have not even met these people," I vaguely heard her saying.

"We must go to England. I need to meet Richardson and Mitchell as soon as possible," I responded, as if it had been my idea in the first place. The trip fell together. Peter Mitchell, who had identified a strong correlation for crib death with poorer, unmarried younger mothers, agreed to meet us in London in October 1997, but announced that Dr. Richardson had suffered a hemorrhagic stroke and would not be available.

Somewhat dismayed at the prospect of not being able to meet with Richardson, we nevertheless set off for London. After checking into our hotel, we quickly ventured down to the lobby. A glance toward the concierge desk revealed a distinguished gentleman, who I instantly knew, had to be Mitchell. My intuition was correct.

Peter Mitchell hardly looked like a researcher, as we sat down to tea, on a typically rainy, late fall afternoon in London. As if he had been reading my mind, Mr. Mitchell began the conversation.

"I’m not a doctor. I’m a businessman. I’ve built bridges, roads and currently own and manage Mitchell Marquees with my son I got involved with cot death quite by accident," almost apologizing in the process.

"I believe that all accidents happen for the right reason," I heard my wife Cynnea, responding supportively. "You are probably correct", Mitchell agreed.

"What are marquees?" I said, trying to become part of the conversation.

"You Yanks call them tents. You know, for parties, weddings, and special functions. As a matter of fact, I had set up a marquee for the wedding reception of Dr. Richardson’s daughter in 1988 or 1989. That’s where this story started. I had been invited to the wedding as a guest, because Dr. Richardson and I had been friends since meeting years ago at the Rotary Club in Winchester."

Somewhat anxious to get Mitchell to the point, which I realized was typically American, I blurted out, "Tents, Cot death, SIDS? What do they have to do with one another?" Mitchell replied, "Be patient, Dr. Davis. Let me finish and you’ll understand". He went on, "later that afternoon. I was thinking, I guess, out loud about the cracks and discoloration that I had noticed in the white marquee I had set up. I remember I was wishing that I knew what was causing that to happen, because it would be worth a lot of money to know if it could be prevented. At the next meeting I decided to ask Barry.

"That’s due to mildew," I heard Dr. Richardson saying, in response to my question, as we sat at the same table.

"Mildew? " I responded.

"Yes, mildew is metabolizing the polyvinyl chloride, causing it to harden and crack," Richardson went on to explain.

"I remember asking him, if I could do anything that could prevent it from happening, and hearing him suggest that I should ring up the manufacturer. The very next day I followed his suggestion, although I knew that he already knew the answer."

"The problem can be eliminated with the addition of more arsenic to the PVC. It will kill the mildew," Mitchell recalled the representative saying over the phone. Mitchell then informed us that he next questioned the safety of adding more arsenic and hearing the following reply, "No problem, it is so safe that we have been allowed to put arsenic into baby mattress polyvinyl chloride, to prevent the growth and accumulation of mildew."

"I was overcome by a strange feeling, " Mitchell related. "I knew I had to talk to Dr. Richardson as soon as possible. The next morning I rang him up and shared my conversation about the company response to my marquee problem" Richardson immediately told me, "Do not let them do it, or your employees will probably start to become ill."

"Why?" I asked Barry," Mitchell said.

"Because the mildew in your marquees can convert arsenic into arsine, which is a poisonous gas. Your employees will become ill working around your marquees, especially if there is poor ventilation," he explained. Returning to his own thoughts, Mitchell shared the rest of that conversation with Dr. Richardson.

"I asked him about the strange feeling I had gotten the prior night. I asked if there was a possible connection between mildew and the polyvinyl chloride used to manufacture mattresses, and cot death? Richardson seemed to get a little excited and replied, 'It’s quite possible'. A large number of children died of arsine poisoning around 1892. It turned out that the arsenic used in a green pigment in furniture and carpets released arsine as the result of the action of mildew which had become established in the fabric."

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