The Sunday Sidebar – Cars and Your Health.
March 30, 2008 by Liz Lewis
Filed under Adventure, Exposed!, Happy Living Tip, Health, Misc., Prevention, The Sunday Sidebar, Travel and Health
I just spent the last 5 days on a road trip (along the stunning West Coast of New Zealands’ South Island) and it got me thinking about cars. In particular, it got me thinking about how cars affect our health.
So I did a little checking and it seems that cars (especially new ones) might not be all that good for our health.
According to an article originally published in Men’s Health, we have numerous invisible hitchhikers inside our new cars. To be exact, there are chemicals lurking in the interior of the car. A study conducted by the Ecology Center found that the two prime suspects – phthalates and bromiated flame retardants (such as deca) – are toxins known to lead to liver, kidney, brain, and thyroid damage in rodents.
But wait, there’s more. The same year that the Ecology Center did their study, Japanese scientists…
‘…sampled the air inside 101 newer cars and found that each vehicle contained 241 different airborne toxins(also known as volatile organic compounds, or VOC’s), including a class of carcinogens called aromatic hydrocarbons.’
And the next year, Taiwanese scientists
‘…analyzed the air in 20 new vehicles, including coupes, compacts, sedans, and SUVs. Once again, the results revealed significantly elevated VOC levels in all of the cabins. Worse, one sedan contained 200 times more xylenes, toxic aromatic hydrocarbons, that human beings can safely inhale.’
So what does this mean to you?
None of the studies could provide conclusive evidence that these toxins would poison the car occupants.
But if I was thinking of buying a new car, I’d be heading over to HealthyCar.org first and read their The Consumer Guide to Toxic Chemicals in Cars. It’s got the fact not only on the cars but also on child car seats.
that doesn’t surprise me at all, I hate the smell of new cars! I wonder if there’s anything that can be done to help get that out before you start driving the car? Either way, I don’t think I be getting a new car for a long time anyway!
Yeah, that new car smell is really off putting — besides, new cars are bad investments, you lose money on it the minute you drive it out of the yard.
I’ll be sticking with my old faithful for a long time yet.