Some people find the new car smell very pleasant. Unfortunately, a new study has turned that joy into bad news. A study at Harvard just found that the “new car smell” that everyone knows and that some of us love can cause cancer. Don’t worry if you have a “new car smell” air freshener hanging from your rearview mirror. They only looked at real new cars.
Researchers from Harvard and the Beijing Institute of Technology analyzed the air inside new cars parked outside. They left a new car parked outside for twelve days and then measured the air quality inside. In doing so, they found large amounts of two known carcinogens.
The study found two known carcinogens that cause cancer. There was 35 percent more formaldehyde in the air than what is considered safe and 61 percent acetaldehyde. Each passed Chinese national safety standards.
They also found that spending just an hour and a half in a car each day exposed a person to enough formaldehyde and acetaldehyde to exceed safe limits.
“These observations increase our understanding of the mechanisms of emission and transport of chemicals in the cabin,” the researchers wrote in their paper, published in the journal. Cell Reports Physical Science.
During warmer weather, levels of hazardous chemicals also increased, the study found.
We spend a lot of time on the road, and anyone who frequently rents new cars could be at increased risk. There are a few ways to try to reduce the risk of what the study found. This includes keeping the car ventilated, parking in the shade to reduce the car’s temperature rise, and keeping the car clean to avoid dust.
