Is Your Car Interior Toxic?

New car smell isn’t an engineered scent to make a new car attractive.  Quite the opposite, it is the unavoidable odor that comes off all the plastic, leather, fabrics, coatings and sealants contained in the car.  And it can take quite a while for all these materials to “cure” - the contaminants you are inhaling are a brew of volatile organic chemicals including benzene and its derivatives, toluene, flame retardants, and plasticizers.  No one has tested this mixture in rats but it wouldn’t be pretty.  But not all car makes are the same and an environmental group is on the job, testing new and used cars for their toxics content.  Go to healthystuff.org to find out the test results for car interiors and many other consumer items.  And to decrease your exposure, ventilate the car before driving it - opening doors will help clear the air, but also have the windows rolled down at least a crack as you start out and have the fan on with fresh air brought into the cabin.  Hot days can be the worst - leave the opens open a crack if your car is baking in the sun and ventilate as much as possible before driving away.