Sinking into the upholstery of a new car could be bad for your health. New
cars’ interiors emit high levels of toxic chemicals for up to six months, an
Australian study has found. In the three cars studied, levels of volatile
organic compounds were up to 128 times as high as the recommended Australian
exposure limit of 500 micrograms per cubic metre. “That’s much higher than the
levels we’ve seen in new buildings, including buildings where people get sick,”
says Steve Brown of the CSIRO, Australia’s national research organisation.
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