How ‘new car smell’ might be dangerous for your health
That new car smell owners gush about can be loaded with cancer-linked chemicals, and scientists fear the risk to drivers could be high.
Some of the world's biggest car makers are under-reporting their emissions, a study has revealed.. (File image).
A new international study has measured chemical emissions inside the cabin of a new car that was parked outside for 12 days, in all sorts of weather.
The study was an attempt to mirror what happens in the real world, and was a departure from the typical tests carried out in chambers where temperature and other conditions are relatively constant.
The news wasn’t good.
Scientists detected high levels of chemicals linked to cancer including the carcinogen formaldehyde, and the probable carcinogen acetaldehyde.
Both were found at levels significantly beyond China’s national standard for air quality in passenger cars.
Scientists from China’s Institute of Technology and Harvard University found the surface temperature of the materials in the car had the biggest impact on the volume of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released.
That suggests previous studies of chemical emissions in vehicle cabins, which only focused on air temperature, have not painted the full picture.
They estimated there could be a high health risk for drivers over the longer term.
“We find that volatile compound emission characteristics are dependent on material surface temperature rather than the widely used metric of air temperature,” the researchers wrote.
“This work is of importance for vehicle designers in selecting appropriate materials to meet environmental standards and improve in-cabin air quality.”
CSIRO air quality scientist Erin Dunne said the results were not surprising and highlight the complex relationship between air pollutants and health impacts.
“It’s also important to remember that there are many activities that expose communities to VOCs – smoking and vaping, cooking, use of domestic products for cleaning and personal care – as well as emissions from vehicles and industry,” Dr Dunne said.
“Our personal exposures are an accumulation of all of these environments and activities and the contribution of each depends on the time we spend and the levels of VOCs in each.”
She said ventilation generally improved air quality in contained environments, such as car interiors.
The study involved a mid-size SUV plug-in hybrid electric vehicle, made within a month of the experiment. The main cabin materials included plastic, imitation leather and woven cloth or felt.
It was left out for 12 consecutive days last year, in all types of weather including sunny, overcast and rainy days.
The peer-reviewed study has been published in the journal Cell Reports Physical Science.
