High levels of antimony and arsenic are being found in children with pervasive developmental disorders (PDD) such as autism.   As a result the Criblife 2000 website has been revised in order to expand upon its warning about the danger coming from baby mattress chemicals. 

The Criblife2000 Foundation has been incorporated as a not for profit education and research organization in order to continue to fight for chemical free environments for all babies.  

Edwards, Colorado August 22, 2001  Criblife 2000

   Dr. Davis has been receiving a large number of emails from parents, who have had their children's hair analyzed for toxic chemicals.  The preliminary results show that extraordinarily high levels of antimony and arsenic are being found in children with learning and behavioral disorders within the spectrum of autism.  These findings are of major concern, because the only reasonable source of these toxins is the baby's sleeping environment.  Antimony is a fire retardant which is found in large amounts in mattress PVC.  Arsenic is typically used as a biocide to kill mildew.  Neither of these elements are absorbed well through the intestinal tract.  The only likely path of entry is through a child's skin or airway.  The only likely mode of entry is a gas.  The only gas producing organisms of concern are fungal organisms, such as mildew.

   There is no reasonable explanation for large amounts of antimony being found in more than 50% of tissue samples, which have been tested from infants who have died for unexplained cause or from 60% of children with autism.  Unexplained infant deaths and neurological disabilities are due to environmental exposures.  Antimony and arsenic do no belong in any child.  The poison gas explanation for unexplained infant deaths found on the web site is in all likelihood also responsible for autism.  Preventing exposure to chemical compounds containing these elements is a step that must be taken immediately.  Removing these chemicals from mattresses a baby might sleep upon is the next step.

   Any responsible people who wish to claim that there is no relationship between chemical toxins and death and disability should be held accountable.  The onus of proof for the safety for these chemicals has replaced the need to prove they are killers.  

   Criblife 2000 launches its revised web site and re-introduces a  polyethylene cover for baby mattresses designed to keep a baby from sleeping on a "dirty" mattress.  

   Vail, Colorado-May 10, 2001-Dr. D'S Mattress Cover launches it's revised  web site http://criblife2000.com, which now offers expectant mothers, as well as others, new information about the environmental danger which may be associated with the re-use of baby mattresses containing polyvinyl chloride (PVC). This site offers a chemical free mattress cover. designed to prevent a baby from sleeping upon potential toxins.

   This web site has recently undergone a major revision. The focus is simple-babies should not be allowed to sleep upon mattresses containing mildew and certain chemical compounds.  Either mildew and/or chemicals represent a danger. In an attempt to establish a common ground that is acceptable to everyone interested in the health of babies, I now propose a simpler reason for protecting babies from mattress chemicals and mildew.  Many will argue that there is no absolute scientific proof that  poison gases may come from mattresses.  I agree with this position, but I also believe few individuals or organizations will oppose endorsing a campaign to make a baby's sleeping environment mildew and chemical free. Almost everyone can agree that no baby deserves to sleep on a "dirty" mattress composed of potentially dangerous chemicals. 

   Although it remains clear that unexplained or suffocation deaths  remain the principle cause of death among infants less than one year of age, it makes no sense to ignore the growing evidence that "dirty" mattresses are potentially harmful.  

    Research has already demonstrated that mildew, which is a common household fungus, is able to convert chemical compounds, frequently found in PVC, into poisonous gases. As recently as February 2000 a researcher in Canada demonstrated the fungal generation of the gas of antimony from a sheepskin containing antimony that a baby died upon.  Although there is no proof that the gas of antimony killed the baby, there is absolutely no reason to believe that it did not do so. This information was presented at the Sixth International SIDS conference, but has apparently not been reported in the proceedings of that meeting.

   In the United States very little information has been available, until now, concerning this fact, or many other facts . Although the 1989 New Zealand discovery that the back position for sleep is effective in significantly reducing deaths, it has not eliminated SIDS. This year 3000 babies will die in the United States. There will be a disproportionate number of deaths among babies from minority groups and those spending time in daycare centers. Providing new mattresses for each new baby may has been recommended but may not be practical. Therefore, a polyethylene cover offers an inexpensive alternative, which will isolate a baby from mattresses contaminated with chemicals, mildew and dust mites, as well as, any toxic gas, which may form within this environment. Isn't a campaign to isolate all babies from "dirty" mattresses a worthwhile idea?

   As the founder of www.criblife2000.com I have  spent the past six years investigating the poison gas explanation as a possible answer to the dilemma in which the American Academy of Pediatrics has now placed itself.  I have just completed a book  "SIDS Solved?-the rest of the story" which has gone to the publisher. The information contained on this web site and in this book may precipitate serious research, because it may represent the only hope a parent or daycare worker may have in proving they did suffocate a baby.  This entire matter may ultimately rest in the legal rather than the medical system.  Wouldn't it be embarrassing for the medical community to learn that research conducted for legal reasons proved once and for all time that unexplained infants deaths were created?. 

   I have been a practicing emergency room physician for thirty years.  My mission is to provide the information a mother-to-be needs to become informed and in that process to further reduce the present danger. I intend to make known the scientific evidence that is available that mildew can create gases from the chemical compounds that have been placed in baby products especially mattresses. 

   I have invited the cooperation of other medical researchers and organizations devoted to the health of babies and bereavement counseling  by focusing on the issue of chemicals and mildew rather than the prevention of death. The outcome of a concerted effort should be gratifying.  I can be contacted through my web site http://www.criblife2000.com, email at DentonDavisMD@aol.com or drdavis@criblife2000.com or by phone at 1-800-951 9255. I will invite all parents to register their babies for follow-up.

D. Denton Davis, M.D.
Dr. D'S Crib Life Cover
1-800 951 9255 (cell), or 970 926 5316(home)
970 926 1256(fax)
DentonDavisMD@aol.com or DrD@www.criblife2000.com
http://www.criblife2000.com