The technically ingenuous media usually manage to panic people unnecessarily into all sorts of illogical actions, particularly where their
cars are concerned. Safety is one area where the feeding frenzy has taken on a life of its own, but that for a future blog.

However, one of their favourite hobby horses this week may actually be worth listening to. A red flag went up for me a couple of years ago,
when some clients of mine bought new cars and said that they seemed to be affected by the atmosphere inside the car.

Particularly those who suffered from asthma or emphysema.

There is, in my opinion, some need to be worried if your lungs are not in first class shape when you buy a new car.

The distinctive smell inside a new car, often a source of satisfaction to owners, comes from the same form of pollution that causes sick
building syndrome. New car smell could contain up to 35 times the health limit set for volatile organic chemicals in cars, making
its enjoyment akin to glue-sniffing. The chemicals found included ethyl benzene, xylene, formaldehyde and toluene used in paints and
adhesives.

In high densities, these cause sick building syndrome: headaches, dizziness and respiratory problems.

A study by a Japanese public health researcher found that it took  three years for the level in cars to fall below the limit set for vehicles
by the Japanese health ministry in response to an increase in the number of car owners suffering from sick building syndrome.

The chief researcher at the Osaka Institute of Public Health, analysed the air inside a new minivan every week for the
first two months and every month after that. The van was driven 3,500 miles a year.

On the day after delivery, the van was found to contain 113 kinds of volatile organic chemicals, mostly hydrocarbons. It took four months
to fall below the safe limit set by the state but shot above it again in the hot summer months even after two years.

The researcher recommends thorough ventilation (windows open whenever possible, even when parked) and expressed the hope that manufacturers would develop materials that did not give off such large amounts of chemicals.

The sorts of chemicals found in this research are generally not found in the external environment and include some well-known toxins.             
So leaving the new car at home, or driving with the windows open, is not only good for the environment and the pocket book,
but is apparently good for your health, too.