99% of cars test positive for cancer-causing chemicals in cabin air
The interior of a Bentley GT Coupe
(STUDY FINDS) -- Picture this: You’re hopping into your car on a sweltering summer day, ready to crank up the AC and hit the road. But did you know that as you sink into your seat, you might be exposing yourself to a group of chemicals called flame retardants? A new study suggests that these compounds, often added to vehicle interiors to meet safety standards, could be silently seeping into the air you breathe inside your car.
Flame retardants are a bit like the unsung heroes of fire safety. They’re added to all sorts of products, from electronics to furniture, with the intention of slowing down or preventing the spread of flames in the event of a fire. In vehicles, they’re used to comply with the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 302, which has been in place since the 1970s. The problem is that many of these chemicals don’t stay put in the materials they’re added to.
You see, a lot of flame retardants are what scientists call “semi-volatile.” This means that they can easily transition from a solid state (like the foam in your car seat) to a gas that ends up in the air. According to this new research, led by scientists at Duke University and the Green Science Policy Institute, the hotter it gets, the more these chemicals are released.
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