Tuesday, September 27, 2005
Don't Inhale In Car
That “new car smell” could be dangerous to your health.
Dangerous enough, in fact, that Japanese auto makers have banded together to set a target for improving the interior air quality in their cars — in addition to continuing to meet exterior emissions standards.
The smell is mostly given off by a group of chemicals known as volatile organic compounds that are ingredients of the plastics, vinyl, paints and glues used in making car interiors and some of which are carcinogens.
The Japanese auto makers, including Toyota Motor Corp., the world's second largest vehicle manufacturer, agreed earlier this year to reduce passenger compartment levels of 13 VOCs to levels that Japan's Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare has established for air quality in homes to combat so-called sick-building syndrome. The offensive substances range from styrene and formaldehyde to xylene and diazinon.
- 30 -
[Source: Globe and Mail, Sept.27, 2005]
posted by Mentok @ 2:10 p.m.,
