That idea is missing something- one of the most basic physiological responses is panic when blood CO2 levels get high. A baby that isn’t getting fresh air should be really upset- crying, flailing, etc. which would move them away from the surface and or bring adult help. What is the cause for this system not engaging in these situations? These studies are actually measuring neurotoxins at concentrations expected to cause this, in the boundary layer of the actual mattresses babies died on. But I could imagine it also happens that in some newborns, perhaps this low CO2 response or the ability to act on it isn’t developed yet?
How do you explain the fact that SIDS rates have dramatically dropped as we've rolled out the mainstream recommendations that don't mention anything about fungi or used mattresses?
I already explained that in my long description above- most of those mainstream recommendations make sense in the context of improving airflow and ventilation.
These ideas and interventions are in no way mutually exclusive: the mainstream recommendations are mechanism agnostic, they are just doing things that have been shown to work. And the toxic gas theory also doesn't claim to explain all causes of SIDS, so if some interventions work but don't fit with that framework, it would suggest a possible additional mechanism. For example, I wonder how the smoking and heat fit in as factors since those are factors I would expect would lead to people trying to ventilate more, but I don't really know what behaviors like that correlate with those.
After hearing about this theory, my first thought was that ceiling fans should also be extremely effective at reducing SIDs rates, and it turns out they are massively effective- reducing rates by 72% [1].
As simple explanation is most recommendations pretty much come down to “less stuff with the baby”. That’s fewer opportunities for bad air to become trapped near the baby.
This is largely my hypothesis above. Remove bumpers. Remove blankets. Remove the opportunity for bad air to become trapped.
