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Q. Dear Umbra,
I have an old and dying Cash for Clunker-eligible SUV with well over 210,000 miles on it ... My problem is I find the VOC offgassing of new cars intolerable. Is there any way to offgas a new car before I drive it so that I am not inhaling that not so healthy “new-car” smell?
Alli K.
Spokane, Wash.
A. Dearest Alli,
Take a deep breath ... outside the car.Either you or I or both of us are a little behind the times, as the Cash for Clunkers program ran out of money and ended on August 24. A new program called the Dealership Funded Cash for Clunkers Program is trying to pick up where the federal program left off. But the dealership funded program has no mileage requirements, and the used cars will not be destroyed. It seems more like a “let’s keep this car sales thing going” project than a mileage improvement program. (The mascot is either a frog or Gollum—you decide.)
If and when you do buy a new car instead of a used one, you will need to deal with some amount of offgassing fumes. Car interiors are constructed from metals, plastics, adhesives, cloth, and sometimes leather. A few tests have indicated that the new car smell in some part consists of unpleasant and unhealthy chemicals wandering out of these interior materials, including toluene and xylenes. Then, of course, there are the ones that have no odor and simply give us a special feeling inside, like phthalates. The dust settling on our dashboard also contains dubious matter.
Hence it is probably best if we all give new cars a daily airing for the first few months. Keep your windows down when you drive, and leave them open a crack when your car is parked, if that’s practical. When you use the vents, choose fresh air rather than recirculated. Other suggestions beyond good ventilation include using solar reflectors and avoiding parking in the sun, since exposure to UV rays hastens the breakdown of these chemicals. (Of course, if hastening is your goal, I suppose you could park in the sun intentionally, bake your car, then leave your windows open and not drive for the six months or so it takes for new-car fumes to dissipate—but this seems a bit deranged.) Some people also swear by using charcoal to absorb the odor.
The easiest solution would be to buy a used car whose fumes were inhaled by a previous owner, or to own no car—you could make every day car-free day! If you do buy new, you might investigate companies that have made a commitment to using fewer toxic chemicals in their auto interiors. Volvo has made a name for itself in this area. Honda is also a leader. To find more information on the interior threats of your car of choice, visit HealthyStuff.org—but please, please remember that the most important factor in your car purchase should be fuel efficiency.
Derangedly,
Umbra
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Comments
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amazingdrx Posted 10:03 am
23 Sep 2009
Here's a strange alternative, put a rebuilt 4 cylinder motor in your SUV. You'll go slower and save gas. A 4 cylinder truck motor/transmission will power your old SUV, try a Toyota.
The motor mounts and drive line will need work. And you will need the auxillary parts from a 4 cylinder Toyota truck, radiator and so forth. How much would it cost? Not as much as a new car. And no outgassing, of course the solar ventilation fan is still a good idea anyway as it saves air conditioning energy.
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Dave Kay Posted 8:13 am
24 Sep 2009
Filter? Where? How replace? I did not know, though I should have considered, that passenger compartment air is filtered! Our '07 is old enough to be well outgassed of VOCs by this point, but we also have allergies, and will buy a new car someday.
But who knew? Really, I doubt many of us know about passenger compartment air filters. So I checked the manual of our 07 Subaru Forester, which said "maybe you have one, maybe not, but here's where to look" (behind the glove box). Seven screws, 2 body panel fasteners of the "pull and pray" variety, and whaddya know? There it is! And surprise! It's full of dust and tree parts after 50K miles. I took pix of the compartment, and of the filter before and after vacuuming with my 5 HP shop vac (to go up on my website, http://www.greenlifeanswers.com). Vacuuming did not make a big difference, really, so I'm going to look into replacement, and with a carbon filter if possible, just to see if it can be done.
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PermieWriter Posted 2:01 pm
27 Sep 2009
Sure, everyone thinks I'm trying to avoid swine flu (until I explain that virii would have no problem getting through any such mask), but it saves me from inhaling VOCs, nasty perfumes (WTF, people pay to smell like rancid cleaning chemicals?), the occasional nastily belching diesel vehicle and smoke from inconsiderate smokers.
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