Car A/C (Air Conditioning) MUST READ!!!

[Jamesc]

Not only the smell from the plastics from your car are dangerous. It applies to most plastics as well, including baby bottles etc.

 

Plastics or polymers are produced from monomers and many which are petroleum derivatives.

During production stage, most of these monomers or volatiles are usually removed from the polymers using heat. It is not possible to completely remove all the volatiles in the polymer.

That's why after parking your car under hot sun, better to wind down windows to blow away the volatiles that released from the plastic.

 

Japanese and Europe manufacturers usually have strict control over the remaining volatile content in the polymers. Chinese producers usually do not care.

That's why we should be careful over country of origin baby bottles or "ni tu" and where these products are manufactured from.

Not only car, Benzene is given off by carpet and paint in office buildings also.

[Weewee1976]

The claims above is just an urban legend:

 

http://urbanlegends.about.com/od/automobil...zene_in_car.htm

[Alechi]

wah .. siao liao ...

 

one side say toxic

the other side say urban legend ....

[Ferraricalifornia]

does this apply to soft-touch plastics like in BMW and Merc, as well as leather wrapped dashboard in the 7-series and S-Class??

 

because i'm confused, between soft-touch and hard plastics, which is better??

[Ben5266]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_car_smell

Read this.

[Hamburger]

solution...................................chge to motor cycle

 

 

 

but i cant, cos no license

[Subutai]

wah .. siao liao ...

 

one side say toxic

the other side say urban legend ....

 

 

Anyone know if this is possible to request testing in Mythbusters?

[OLLAH]

Please do not be Stupid

 

 

Starting with the basics, it's true that benzene is a toxic chemical known to produce a variety of ill health effects, including anemia and cancer (specifically leukemia) in humans.

 

The substance occurs both naturally (mainly as a component of crude oil) and as a byproduct of human activities, e.g. as a component of petroleum-based products (such as gasoline) and products manufactured using benzene as a solvent (such as plastics, synthetic fibers, dyes, glues, detergents, and drugs). It's also a constituent of tobacco smoke.

 

Low levels of benzene are typically present in outdoor air due to automobile exhaust and industrial emissions. Thanks to vapors emitted by household products such as glues, paints, and furniture wax, even higher levels of benzene can sometimes be found in indoor air, especially in new buildings.

 

Benzene in cars

 

Do automobile dashboards, door panels, seats, and other interior components emit benzene, as claimed in the email? Most likely. In most cars these items are made from plastics, synthetic fabrics, and glues, some of which are manufactured using benzene. According to scientists, such items may "off-gas" trace amounts of benzene, especially under hot weather conditions.

 

There's precious little information available on the ingredients of car air fresheners, though one European study found that some household air fresheners emit measurable amounts of benzene, so it's not inconceivable that some car air fresheners do, too.

 

The critical question is how much. Might all of these items, taken together, give off enough benzene to harm your health?

 

What the scientists say

 

Most of the published studies wherein benzene levels were measured inside passenger vehicles have been done under driving conditions, in traffic. So, while such studies have indeed found that in-vehicle benzene levels can significantly exceed those outside the vehicle, and could pose a human health hazard, this is mainly attributed to the presence of exhaust fumes.

 

By the way, the amounts of benzene actually detected by researchers, albeit significant, were much smaller than the amounts stated in the email. A 2006 study summarizing all the data collected to date reported in-vehicle benzene levels ranging from .013 mg to .56 mg per cubic meter

Edited January 28, 2010 by OLLAH

[Introz]

by the way thanks for the info

be safe than sorry

[Agentwilson]

i remember the professor did not specifically said benzene.

he said VOCs

 

so yea~

to me, the new car smell is not good...

 

oh 1 more thing, he told us to 'bake' the car in hot sun initially.

heat will accelerate the emission of these harmful compounds. then air the car to get rid of it.

soon, it will emit less n less... makes sense to me

 

anyway this prof is an eminent figure in environmental engineering

and i CAN confirm he said this. so yea~ believe it or not, ur take

 

 

[OLLAH]

i remember the professor did not specifically said benzene.

he said VOCs

 

so yea~

to me, the new car smell is not good...

 

oh 1 more thing, he told us to 'bake' the car in hot sun initially.

heat will accelerate the emission of these harmful compounds. then air the car to get rid of it.

soon, it will emit less n less... makes sense to me

 

anyway this prof is an eminent figure in environmental engineering

and i CAN confirm he said this. so yea~ believe it or not, ur take

 

End of the day you still die.

Wake up and smell the roses while you can. Worrying about this sort of things kills your brain cells.

 

[Austinios]

everytime you open the door, you are already ventilating the car cabin a little. it is unlikely you get the toxic out-gas build to such a dangerous level.

 

however, it is still important to ventilate your car to keep the air within the cabin fresh with more oxygen. when your aircon is switched to circulate cold air within cabin, you will not be getting much oxygen replaced. and any virus or bacteria will continue to circulate as well. its the same for your home/office.

[Leepee]

Buy second hands cars! Sure no toxic fumes!

[Latioboy]

Thank God i drive with windows down 24/7 unless there's rain.

[Agentwilson]

End of the day you still die.

Wake up and smell the roses while you can. Worrying about this sort of things kills your brain cells.

 

 

u eat then u s--t...

end of the day since u'll still s--t anyway, then dun eat.

 

is tat ur mantra?

[Donniedragon]

Thank God i drive with windows down 24/7 unless there's rain.

 

U drive a ragtop?

 

[Donniedragon]

With regards to the topic,

 

Bros, please THINK before believing.

 

With technology of today, will cars be built in such a way to kill people?

 

If it's a rumor on some potato chips or facial wash to be toxic, we can just choose to buy another brand. But cars??

 

 

[Tigershark1976]

if the article is true... then I really heng ahh... lukily im a smoker... whenever i got up on my car.... the 1st thing i do is to wind down my window

Edited February 1, 2010 by Tigershark1976