Your Used Car Smell…Its Healthier?

Here’s another interesting fact for you to consider while you toil over pages and pages of new and used car research.

Everyone loves that fresh, crisp smell from a new car smell. Well, that new car smell you love to inhale, and show off to your jealous friends, actually comes from phthalates, (stuff that makes plastic more flexible) chlorine and lead. It also includes brominated flame retardants from the seat and the padding used within the cushions.

So, are used cars healthier than new cars? One can make that argument since the concentration levels of total volatile organic compounds [VOC's] is going to be at its highest once a new car rolls off the assembly line.

A study done by HealthyCar.org, showed that initial VOC levels in new cars have been 13 times higher than recommended levels. Although, to be fair, their studies do show these levels fall 10-fold within a few months after being manufactured.

A recommendation, from HealthyCar, calls for more dashboard solar reflectors to help reduce the levels of photochemical breakdown into a toxic compound. Intense heat and the sun’s rays speeds up this breakdown process.

Concerned with the chemical compound levels in a new vehicle that you’re considering? See even more interesting results at Ecocenter.org.

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