It's no secret that what people call the "new car smell" is the result of a chemical soup of volatile organic compounds within the vehicle's interior, notes ZME Science. Now, a new study raises a related concern in a warming world: The VOCs appear to intensify when it's hot, reports Newsweek. Researchers from the Beijing Institute of Technology and Peking University found that outdoor temperatures between 77.5 degrees and 115 degrees Fahrenheit significantly raised the levels of formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, and hexaldehyde inside the cars, per a release at Phys.org.
In the case of formaldehyde, for example, the Chinese researchers found that levels rose to double the allowable safety limits in their country. Formaldehyde is only one of dozens of such new-car VOCs. The resulting distinctive odor emanates from carpets, adhesives, fabrics, etc., within the vehicle, and the study at PNAS ticks off the associated risks of VOCs in new cars—everything from headaches, eye irritation, and disorientation to more serious issues such as potential lung disease.
Researchers suggest that car manufacturers and safety regulators take more aggressive steps to mitigate VOCs, perhaps by reassessing materials or by developing new in-cabin monitoring technologies. In the meantime, a post at ScienceBlog suggests that drivers might want to make sure to park their new rides out of the sun whenever possible. (More discoveries stories.)
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