[gpa]

I have heard this before. Usually, I don't park my cars in the sun at all. I always park it under a shady tree even if I have to walk to a shopping area. On the rare ocassion if I do park under the blazing sun, then all 4 windows are lowered a few centimetres to allow for venting of the vehicle.

I also have not used the fresh air mode for the a/c till date. If I am using the a/c, I usually lower the windows for a minute to get fresh air in and then roll them up again. Helps to keep out a lot of crud from the cooling coils and internal a/c components.

[UniqueMods]

Please note and circulate...

Do not turn on A/C immediately as soon as you enter the car!



Please open the windows after you enter your car and do not turn ON the air-conditioning immediately. According to a research done, the car dashboard, sofa, air freshener emits Benzene, a Cancer causing toxin (carcinogen- take note of the heated plastic smell in your car). In addition to causing cancer, it poisons your bones, causes anemia, and reduces white blood cells. Prolonged exposure will cause Leukemia, increasing the risk of cancer may also cause miscarriage.

Acceptable Benzene level indoors is 50 mg per sq. ft. A car parked indoors with the windows closed will contain 400-800 mg of Benzene. If parked outdoors under the sun at a temperature above 60 degrees F, the Benzene level goes up to 2000-4000 mg, 40 times the acceptable level... & the people inside the car will inevitably inhale an excess amount of the toxins.


It is recommended that you open the windows and door to give time for
the interior to air out before you enter. Benzene is a toxin that affects your kidney and liver, and is very difficult for your body to expel this toxic stuff.

I received this in email, so...
"When someone shares something of value with you and you benefit from it,
You have a moral obligation to share it with others"

UM

Edit: Mods kindly merge with the thread Greenhorn mentioned.

[greenhorn]

this has been discussed here
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...stale-air.html

Originally Posted by UniqueMods

"When someone shares something of value with you and you benefit from it,
You have a moral obligation to share it with others"

UM

You also have the moral obligation to verify (mis) information before spreading it to others
http://www.snopes.com/medical/toxins/benzene.asp

[vasudeva]

If benzene is the culprit, then another warning: grilled meat can also contain carcinogens.

Cooking and food processing at high temperatures have been shown to generate various kinds of genotoxic substances or cooking toxicants, including Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs). PAHs PAHs are formed by the incomplete combustion of organic matter and are thus generated whenever fossil fuels or vegetation is burned, and they are one of several classes of carcinogenic chemicals present in tobacco smoke. They are also present in food.

Notably, many studies have demonstrated that carcinogenic PAHs are present in food, being formed through the grilling and smoking of foods. Grilling (broiling) meat, fish or other foods with intense heat over a direct flame results in fat dripping on the hot fire and yielding flames containing a number of PAHs. These chemicals adhere to the surface of the food. The more intense the heat, the more PAHs are present. PAHs are present in grilled meat or fish in varied amounts. Grilled meat in general is estimated to contain carcinogens in the quantity 10.5 ng/g B(a) (International Agency Research on Cancer, 1993).

Further, some of the highest concentrations of PAHs have been found in food cooked over open flames. For example, in barbecued meat total PAHs were found to be present at concentration up to 164 ppb . In Italy, it was found that the highest concentrations of PAHs were observed in pizza baked in wood-burning ovens and barbecued beef and pork.

[UniqueMods]

Originally Posted by greenhorn

this has been discussed here
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...stale-air.html

You also have the moral obligation to verify (mis) information before spreading it to others
snopes.com: Benzene in Automobiles

There's no Mis-information.
Your suggested site also says the same thing that one should open the windows briefly for fresh air to flow in and benzene to flow out.

as long as the info is spread to all bhpian's, all's good.

UM

[nairrk]

Precautions to be taken for Car A/C.

Do not turn on A/c immediately as soon as you enter your Car.

Please opden the windows after you enter your Car and do not turn on the Air Conditioning immediately. According to a research done, the car dashboardm, sofa, air freshner emits Benzene, a Cancer causing toxin (carcinogen-take note of the heated plastic smell in your car). In addition to causing Cancer, it poisons your bones, causes anemia, and reduces white blood cells. Prolonged exposure will cause Leukemia, increasing the risk of cancer may also cause miscarriage.

Acceptable Benzene level indoors is 50mg per sq.ft. A Car parked indoors with the windows closed will contain 400-800mg of benzene. If parked outdoors under the sun at a temperature above 60 degrees F, the Benzene level goes up to 2000-4000mg, 40 times the acceptable level..& the people inside the car will inevitably inhale an excess amount of the toxins.

It is recommended that you open the windows and doors to give time for the interrior air to go out before you enter. Benezene is a toxin that affects your kidney and Liver, and is very difficult for your body to expel this toxic stuff.

Source:
Courtsey
Automobile Association of Southern India.

[McLaren Rulez]

In addition, a car parked under the sun will be boiling inside thanks to the greenhouse effect. Opening your windows allows that heat to get out quickly and reduces the load on your air-con.

[funnyguru]

Is it ok to switch on the blower only and switch directions to the bottom vent for couple of minutes, apart from opening the windows...

[Newpunter]

I think this is an urban legend and various emails have been circulating while claiming different origins. While it is true that Benzene can cause cancer, it hasn't been proved that the internal plastics emit Benzene.

snopes.com: Benzene in Automobiles

[McLaren Rulez]

Come to think of it, does that mean that driving with the air con in recirc mode is going to have the same effect? After all, the same air is recirculated and if the dash, seats etc are 'producing' benzene, its concentration is going to go up as you keep driving.

I certainly hope Newpunter is right and plastics don't emit benzene

[alpha1]

Clean your carpets and seat covers etc with vacuum cleaner if possible.
I experienced the hard way by getting my AC vents clogged with dust and muck (over the years of course) and opening up everythign for cleaning.

[nairrk]

Thanks all your comments.
Please note the above article was published in the official Journal of Automobile Association of Southern India ((AASI) which is circulated all over India among members, so it cannot be 100% bogus news or report.
There should be some bad effect by entering in a closed car immediately after opening the door. Even before reading above article, I had a practise of open the doors and keep it for couple of minutes before I enter inside car whenever the car was parked under the sun. I used to do this just to make sure that some hot air comes out and some fresh air goes inside the car.!

[sanjayc]

Will the benzene stuff depend upon the quality of plastic used? However, it is always a good idea to get in fresh air every now & then. And, by that I mean by lowering down the windows and not thru the fresh-air/recirculation button.

For me, it is both - a/c switched on as soon as engine is started and windows down a few notches in the initial couple of minutes in city driving conditions.

[iamswift]

Sometime back, I too received the email doing rounds. The plastics emitting benzene is debatable.
The point is: The car interior plastics emits benzene when heated up, say when parked under sun. It is not that car plastics always emit benzene. Over the period of time, when the interiors cool down, benzene is not emitted anymore.

We have solid proofs that when plastics are being melted, carcinogenic elements are released. Though this benzene stuff debatable.
Considering this fact and for the happiness of the A/c, we can consider driving the car with windows down for some time.

[Newpunter]

Originally Posted by nairrk

Thanks all your comments.
Please note the above article was published in the official Journal of Automobile Association of Southern India ((AASI) which is circulated all over India among members, so it cannot be 100% bogus news or report.

Are you sure that this was published in the AASI? Because the text is a complete copy paste of the emails that have been doing the rounds from a long time, each time claiming a different source. If you see the link that i posted, the text is completely same. All these forwarded emails that come with warnings like these claim to have been published in some reputed journal or newspaper, but they hardly present any links.
Although the advice is probably correct, I think more Benzene is released from the exhaust gases rather than the plastics inside the car. Also, the link that i posted says that studies have shown that older cars emit more benzene than newer ones and that benzene levels have been higher in winter than in summer ( so i dont think parking in the sun has an effect here ). It also says that the biggest contributor to Benzene levels are the exhausts rather than the internal components.