The interior of your car could be sending a blast of toxic compounds into your lungs on hot days, new research shows.
Formaldehyde and other toxic chemicals used to make some of our favorite features in a new car, from plush seats to soft leather upholstery, include formaldehyde, a chemical linked to cancer, and other volatile organic compounds (VOCs).
When cars heat up to about 70 to 110 degrees, those chemicals turn into a toxic gas that enters the body through the nasal passages.
From there they cause irritation of the mucous membranes, headaches, nausea and dizziness.
Inhaling volatile organic compounds causes headaches, nausea and dizziness in the short term. In the long term, it increases the risk of cancer, cognitive problems and organ damage.
The graph shows the most influential factors in a car that increase emissions of volatile organic compounds such as formaldehyde.
Long-term exposure to formaldehyde and the related acetaldehyde and hexaldehyde has been linked to kidney damage, memory loss, cognitive problems, cancers, particularly blood cancers, and heart disease.
Ventilation can dramatically reduce these risks, and researchers recommend not sitting in a hot car in the warmer months without the air conditioning on or windows open.
Researchers from the Beijing Institute of Technology and Peking University measured how hot weather can influence the release of hazardous chemicals in the cabin of a single car.
With no one in the vehicle and the engine off, they determined how much air was circulating inside the vehicle.
They placed dry ice in the back seat, which would generate carbon dioxide that then helped them evaluate how efficiently air is exchanged within a space.
CO2 acts as a “tracer gas,” meaning it is introduced into the space in a controlled manner to track how air is replaced.
By monitoring the concentration of this gas over time, they can infer how quickly fresh air replaces old air.
They tested 12 volatile compounds such as formaldehyde, benzene, O-xylene and acetaldehyde under a range of weather conditions and how they affect the car interior, including sunny, cloudy and rainy days.
They then discovered that temperatures inside the car could be very high, especially on sunny days, ranging from around 75.2 degrees Fahrenheit to over 147.2 degrees, while outside temperatures ranged from 77 degrees Fahrenheit to 115 degrees.
Formaldehyde had the highest concentration of all VOCs measured as those temperatures rose, exceeding Chinese national standards of a limit of 100 micrograms per cubic meter of air.
Acetaldehyde concentrations ranged from 30 to 100 micrograms per cubic meter of air.
By measuring different outside temperatures, researchers were able to simulate various real-world climate scenarios and better understand how the temperature inside the car affects VOC emissions.
When seats and other car materials were heated, they tended to increase levels of volatile compounds,
Exposure to VOCs can irritate children’s airways and trigger asthma. They can also cause delays in cognitive development and chronic health problems, including respiratory diseases.
The temperature range also helped them evaluate the performance of the car’s ventilation system under different conditions.
Certain chemicals are found in materials used to make seat upholstery, plastic dashboards, brake pedals and steering wheels.
To reduce the risk of exposure to these chemicals, people should keep their windows open or use the air conditioning while in the car on a hot day.
The latest study, published in the journal PNAS Nexusis not the first to analyse volatile organic compounds emitted by cars.
In 2001, Australian researchers discovered that simply sitting in a new car exposes passengers to toxic emissions. several levels higher than what health officials consider safe.
Research leader Steve Brown said: ‘We found that new car interiors have much higher levels of VOCs than any building we have investigated.
“Ultimately, what we need are cars with interior materials that produce fewer emissions.”
All cars use similar materials to make their seats and other cabin parts, which means they all emit some amount of volatile chemicals, although the rates can be based on car-specific factors, from the material used for the seats to the fuel it uses.
Since electric cars produce no fuel emissions and less engine-related heat, those chemical emissions levels could be lower in a Tesla than in a fuel-guzzling SUV.
Previous studies have shown that counties most prone to the effects of global warming Includes those from UtahColorado and California, all of which had particularly higher average summer temperatures than in previous decades.
