According to research, you breathe in potential carcinogens in your car

The air in all passenger cars is contaminated with harmful flame retardants – including substances known or suspected to cause cancer – according to a new study published in Environmental sciences and technology. Automakers add these chemicals to seat foam and other materials to meet an outdated federal flammability standard with no proven fire safety benefit.

“Our research found that interior materials release harmful chemicals into the cabin air of our cars,” said lead author Rebecca Hoehn, a scientist at Duke University. “Given that the average driver spends about an hour in the car every day, this is a significant public health problem. It is especially concerning for drivers traveling longer distances and for child passengers, who breathe more air per pound than adults.”

The researchers discovered flame retardants in the cabins of 101 cars (model year 2015 or newer) from across the US. In total, 99% of the cars contained tris(1-chloro-isopropyl) phosphate (TCIPP), a flame retardant under investigation by the US National Toxicology Program as a potential carcinogen. Additional organophosphate ester flame retardants were present in most cars, including tris (1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCIPP) and tris (2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP), two California Proposition 65 carcinogens. These and other flame retardants are also linked to neurological and reproductive damage.

About half of the cars were tested in both summer and winter. Warmer weather has been associated with higher concentrations of flame retardants because gas emissions from interior components such as seat foam increase at higher temperatures. Vehicle interiors can reach up to 150 degrees Fahrenheit.

The researchers also analyzed seat foam samples from 51 of the cars in the study. Vehicles containing the suspected carcinogen TCIPP in their foam tended to have higher concentrations of TCIPP in the air, confirming that foam is a source of this flame retardant in cabin air.

Flame retardants have been added to the seat foam to meet U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS) 302, an open flame flammability standard that was first introduced in the 1970s and remains unchanged.

“Firefighters are concerned that flame retardants are contributing to their very high cancer rates,” said Patrick Morrison, who oversees the health and safety of 350,000 U.S. and Canadian firefighters at the International Association of Fire Fighters. “Filling products with these harmful chemicals does little to prevent fires in most applications, but instead makes the fires smokier and more toxic to victims, and especially to first responders. I urge NHTSA to update their flammability standard so that it can meet without flame retardant chemicals in vehicles.”

Such an update would mirror changes in California’s flammability standard for furniture and baby products, which was updated a decade ago to a modern standard met without flame retardants. In particular, this update has maintained or even modestly increased the fire safety of furniture lower levels of flame retardants in American homes.

Epidemiological studies have shown that the average American child has lost three to five IQ points from exposure to a flame retardant used in cars and furniture. Furthermore, a recent research paper estimated that those with the highest levels of this flame retardant in their blood were about four times as likely to die from cancer, compared to people with the lowest levels.

“You may be able to reduce exposure to flame retardants in your car by opening your windows and parking in the shade,” said co-author Lydia Jahl, a senior scientist at the Green Science Policy Institute. “But what is really needed is to reduce the amount of flame retardants added to cars in the first place. Commuting to work should not pose a risk of cancer, and children should not inhale chemicals that could damage their brains on the way to work. school.”

Provided by the Green Science Policy Institute