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Toxic warning issued to millions of Americans driving in hot weather this summer - how to tell if YOU are at risk
The inside of your car could be sending a flurry of toxic compounds into your lungs on hot days, new research shows.
Formaldehyde and other toxic chemicals used to make up some of our favorite features in a new car, from plush seats to soft leather linings 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 nostrils.
From there, they cause irritation in mucous membranes, headache, nausea, and dizziness.
Breathing in volatile organic compounds causes headache, nausea, and dizziness in the short term. Longer term, it raises risks of cancer, cognitive problems, and organ damage
The graph shows the most influential factors in a car that increase the emissions of volatile organic compounds like formaldehyde
Long-term exposure to formaldehyde and related acetaldehyde and hexaldehyde has been linked to kidney damage, memory loss, cognitive problems, cancers, particularly blood cancers, and heart diseases.
Ventilation can drastically reduce these risks, and researchers recommend against sitting in a hot car in the warmer months without the AC on or windows open.
Researchers from the Beijing Institute of Technology and Peking University measured how hot weather can influence the release of dangerous chemicals in single car's cabin.
Without anyone in the car and the engine turned off, they determined how much air was flowing inside the car.
They placed dry ice in the backseat, which would generate carbon dioxide which then helped them assess how efficiently air is exchanged within a space.
CO2 acts as a 'tracer gas,' meaning it's 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 is replacing the old air.
They tested 12 volatile compounds such as formaldehyde, benzene, O-xylene, and acetaldehyde under a series of weather conditions and how they affect the inside of the car, including sunny, cloudy, and rainy days.
They then found that temperatures inside the car could get very high, especially on sunny days, ranging from around 75.2 degrees Fahrenheit to 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 when those temperatures climbed, exceeding Chinese national standards of a limit of 100 micrograms per cubic meter of air.
Concentrations of acetaldehyde fell between 30 and 100 micrograms per cubic meter of air.
By measuring different outside temperatures, researchers could simulate various real-world weather scenarios and better understand how temperature inside the car affects VOC emissions.
When seats and other materials in the car heated up, they tended to drive up levels of volatile compounds,
Exposure to VOCs can irritate children's respiratory tract and cause asthma. They can also lead to cognitive development delays and chronic health issues including respiratory diseases
The range of temperatures 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 their risk of exposure to these chemicals, people should keep their windows open or use their air conditioning while in the car on a hot day.
The latest study, published in the journal PNAS Nexus, is not the first to look at volatile organic compounds emitted in cars.
Back in 2001, Australian researchers found that simply sitting in a new car subjects riders to toxic emissions several levels higher than what health officials deem safe.
Research leader Steve Brown said: ‘We find new car interiors have much higher VOC levels than any building we've researched.
‘Ultimately, what we need are cars with interior materials that produce lower emissions.’
All cars use similar materials to make their seats and other parts of the car cabin, meaning they all emit some amount of volatile chemicals, though the types can be based on car-specific factors, from material used for seating to the fuel it takes.
Because electric cars have no fuel emissions and less engine-related heat, those chemical emission levels might be lower in a Tesla than a gas-guzzling SUV.
Previous studies have shown that the counties most prone to the effects of a warming climate include those in Utah, Colorado, and California, all of which have seen particularly higher average summer temperatures than previous decades.