Douglas Sullivan to head CertiPur-US foam certification program

HTT Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 4/27/2011 10:40:41 AM

McLean, Va. - Industry veteran Douglas A. Sullivan has been named executive director of the CertiPUR-US certification program for flexible polyurethane foam.
Sullivan, who was technical director and director of research and development at industry supplier Hickory Springs Mfg. Co. for nearly 20 years, succeeds Bob Luedeka, who was interim executive director of CertiPUR-US.
"This feels a little like sending off a child to college," said Luedeka, who is the executive director of the Polyurethane Foam Assn., the organization that initiated the CertiPUR-US program.
Officials say interest in CertiPUR-US is on the upswing among manufacturers and retailers.
CertiPUR-US is a voluntary testing, analysis and certification program developed by the global flexible polyurethane foam industry. Products that carry the CertiPUR-US label have met testing standards in independent laboratories and are certified to be low emission for indoor air quality and made without ozone-depleters, formaldehyde, PBDEs, prohibited phthalates, lead, mercury and other materials of concern. Products also must meet certain physical performance and durability standards.
All major U.S. foam producers now offer CertiPUR-US certified foams, officials said.
Sullivan has worked in the flexible polyurethane foam industry for more than three decades. Before his position at Hickory Springs, he was a research scientist at Union Carbide and a project leader at Dow Chemical Co.