New car smell: Intoxicating or toxic?

Ahhh, that lovely ‘new car’ smell we always covet. Take a deep breath, get a good noseful. Ever wondered why new cars smell the way they do?

That’ll be a cheeky cocktail of bromine, chlorine, lead, arsenic, mercury and other such wonderful chemicals and elements linked with allergies, birth defects, impaired learning, liver toxicity and cancer.

For the second year running, HealthyCar.org has made a study of toxic substances in over 200 new cars (2008 and 2009 models) and 60 children’s car seats. The worst offender on wheels is the Mitsubishi Eclipse Spyder GT. Perhaps we should be thankful that this convertible isn’t a family car. The goody four-tires of the bunch is the Acura RDX (an SUV -- how inconvenient, given the current climate).

Of course, these chemicals don’t get there by accident. For example, bromine is used as a flame retardant. And while this latest study finds that “far too many companies have not yet phased out ... dangerous chemicals,” the good news is that several car makers have cleaned up their acts somewhat from last year, with General Motors showing the most improvement out of the Big Three. The average child seat is also 28% less toxic than 12 months ago.

The tests were carried out using a portable X-ray fluorescence device that can determine an item’s chemical composition within 60 seconds, which is kinda cool. But some people might surprised by HealthyCar.org’s categorization. According to the study, the BMW M5 is a luxury sedan, while the Toyota Solara is described as ‘sporty’. And the Mercedes-Benz E350 is a small car?

-- Colin Ryan

Photo: Spyder interior. Credit: Mitsubishi

Comments

[Firecracker]

X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is a surface analytical technique to look for elements such as Cl, Br, Pb, As IN or ON the materials analyzed. These elements are not necessarily volatile (thus inhaled). For example PVC, which is polyvinyl CHLORIDE is used as plumbing in our houses, and rather useful, not harmful. The other elements are only potentially dangerous if exposed in elevated amounts for a long period of time. Of more concern would probably be the volatile organic compounds (that XRF can not detect) and only at large enough DOSES, could they be harmful. Not only is concentration important, but also the time exposure (typically we're not in our cars for the majority of our day). Perhaps results using gas chromatography mass spectrometry (GC/MS) to assess and quantify the actual volatile components in the air would be more informative.

[x-ray fluorescence]

Hi,
X-ray fluorescence (XRF) is the emission of characteristic "secondary" (or fluorescent) X-rays from a material that has been excited by bombarding with high-energy X-rays or gamma rays. The phenomenon is widely used for elemental analysis and chemical analysis, particularly in the investigation of metals, glass, ceramics and building materials, and for research in geochemistry, forensic science and archaeology.