To determine the pollution inside cars and its impact on health, the air of around a hundred vehicles, mainly driving in towns and on the motorway, was analyzed between October and December 2012. Two collection methods were used. implemented, one for volatile organic compounds, the other for particles and dust. The samples were then analyzed by the Hygiene Laboratory of the city of Paris.
Worrying results
41% of the vehicles tested exceed the comfort target value for volatile organic compounds which create olfactory discomfort and irritation.
23% of vehicles have a rate higher than the maximum authorized value for formaldehyde, a powerful irritant classified as toxic, sensitizing and carcinogenic. And 65% of vehicles exceed the value usually found in carpets for biological pollutants responsible for respiratory pathologies.
Key figures
Compared to other modes of travel, car users are the most exposed to gaseous atmospheric pollutants emitted by motor vehicle exhausts. Indeed, a motorist in his car is 5 times more exposed to benzene and nitrogen dioxide, and 3 times more exposed to particles than in his home or on the street.
An Ile-de-France resident who uses his car as a mode of transport spends an average of 78 minutes a day inside it.
These health risks are naturally greater for vulnerable people (children, pregnant women, seniors or the sick) and increase according to the time spent on the road. Professional drivers (taxis, truck drivers, etc.) are therefore also concerned.
Smoking pollutes more in the car
An earlier Scottish study found that the indoor air quality of cars differed from 17 drivers, including 14 smokers.
At the end of this study, the 17 motorists had recorded 104 trips, including 63 while smoking. And on average, the volume of fine particles was around 7.4 µg/m3 during non-smoking journeys and 85 µg/m3 during smoking journeys. That’s a concentration of fine particles three times higher than the indoor pollution standard set by the World Health Organization! The study also shows that the use of ventilation or the fact of opening the windows to ventilate the passenger compartment had little impact on this pollution of the air inside the car.
