October 1, 2009
Your New Car, Is It Toxic? 2
A total of 15 components from each vehicle were selected for sampling, including the steering wheel, shift knob, armrest, center console, dashboard, headliner, carpet, seat front, seat back, seat base, hard door trim, soft door trim, body sealer, wiring, window seal and wheel weights. The vehicles were then rated on a scale from zero to five, and each model was given a low, medium or high concern rating as well. The results of the study are quite surprising and give an interesting look into the chemical makeup of a vehicle’s interior. But what about the vehicle you already own? The Ecology Center’s Jeff Gearhart offers some advice. “A few steps to take are keeping the temperature of the vehicle down, keeping the vehicle well ventilated and making sure to keep the interior clean from dust,” Gearhart explains. “We inhale the dust, which increases our exposure levels to the chemicals.”