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that 'new car' smell is bad for your health
a 20 minute car ride could have you breathing in dangerous levels of cancer-causing chemicals.
mar 3 2021
2 minute read
bad news for people who enjoy that new car smell.
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commuters could be paying through the nose for that “new car smell” found in automobiles, according to a new study that found the intoxicating aroma raises the risk of cancer and birth defects to unacceptable levels.
the study, published in environment international , said the combination of two chemicals used during the manufacturing process — benzene and formaldehyde — are known to cause cancer beyond a certain level of exposure. the two carcinogens do not necessarily result in a deadly diagnosis if exposure remains low, but because private spaces, such as the interiors of cars, are not well studied, the risks are not well known.
researchers working at the university of california, riverside (ucr), attempted to address this by taking a closer look at commutes in california that lasted longer than 20 minutes. they found that exposure to benzene and formaldehyde — two items included on proposition 65 , the state’s list of chemicals known to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity — can reach dangerous levels.
“these chemicals are very volatile, moving easily from plastics and textiles to the air that you breathe,” said david volz , one of the authors of the study and a professor of environmental toxicology at ucr.
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benzene, commonly found in rubber and dyes, has been identified by health canada as a “priority indoor air contaminant” that has been linked to dizziness, tremors, nausea, vomiting, headaches and drowsiness at high levels of exposure. formaldehyde is a colourless gas emitted from certain manufacturing materials that has been associated with cancer of the nasal pathways. exposure to either of these chemicals is less problematic in open-air settings, but in the enclosed confines of an automobile, they can accumulate and amplify risk.
to assess the extent of the issue, researchers calculated the quantity of the two chemicals inhaled during a commute of at least 20 minutes per day in california. they found 90 per cent of the population of los angeles, san diego and the orange, santa clara and alameda counties had at least a 10 per cent chance of inhaling chemicals above the threshold deemed safe once the trip reached or exceeded 30 minutes. “of course, there is a range of exposure that depends on how long you’re in the car and how much of the compounds your car is emitting,” said aalekhya reddam, lead author of the study and a graduate student in the volz laboratory.
roughly 12.6 million canadians made the trip to work by car in 2016, according to statistics canada , with the average trip taking 24 minutes. close to one million commuters spent at least an hour travelling to work by car.
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rather than relishing in the new car smell, if you detect it, reddam suggests cracking a window instead. “at least with some air flow, you’d be diluting the concentration of these chemicals inside your car.”
the onus is also on manufacturers to ensure they are doing everything possible to protect consumers, the researchers said. “as people with long commutes are an already vulnerable sub-population, additional measures may need to be implemented in order to mitigate potential cancer risks associated with benzene and formaldehyde exposure,” they said.
“there should be alternatives to these chemicals to achieve the same goals during vehicle manufacturing,” volz added. “if so, these should be used.”
dave yasvinski is a writer with healthing.ca
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