Chemicals In Car Interiors May Cause Cancer, and They're Required By US Law (thehill.com) 60
An anonymous reader quotes a report from The Hill: Tens of millions of Americans each day breathe in carcinogenic chemicals that are woven into the interiors of their cars, a new study has found. While opening a window can help reduce the risk, only reforms can keep people safe, researchers wrote in a study in Environmental Science and Technology. Approximately 124 million Americans commute each day, spending an average of an hour in their cars. By federal law, the interior of these vehicles are required to contain flame retardants, or chemicals that make it harder for them to combust in a crash. These chemicals have been a legally mandated part of modern cars since the 1970s, when the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) passed a law requiring their use.
It's arguable how effective this protection is. Patrick Morrison, of the International Association of Firefighters, said in a statement on the study that these chemicals do little to prevent blazes -- but instead simply make them "smokier and more toxic." What the study conclusively demonstrates is that any such protection comes at a price. Virtually all cars investigated by Duke University researchers contained the chemical tris (1-chloro-isopropyl) phosphate, or TCIPP -- which the U.S. National Toxicology Program is investigating as a potential carcinogen. Most cars also had two other phosphate-based flame retardants that the state of California is investigating as potential carcinogens: Those chemicals are tris (1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCIPP) and tris (2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP). All three chemicals are linked to reproductive and neurological problems -- particularly because they don't stay in the fabrics they're woven into. Flame retardant chemicals off-gas or leach from the seat and interior fabrics into the air, -- especially in hot weather, when car interiors can reach 150 degrees Fahrenheit. A study from 2017 found that the average U.S. child has lost up to 5 IQ points from exposure to flame retardants in cars and furniture. Meanwhile, adults with the highest levels of flame retardants in their blood face a risk of death by cancer that is four times greater than those with the lowest levels, according to a study published last month.
It's arguable how effective this protection is. Patrick Morrison, of the International Association of Firefighters, said in a statement on the study that these chemicals do little to prevent blazes -- but instead simply make them "smokier and more toxic." What the study conclusively demonstrates is that any such protection comes at a price. Virtually all cars investigated by Duke University researchers contained the chemical tris (1-chloro-isopropyl) phosphate, or TCIPP -- which the U.S. National Toxicology Program is investigating as a potential carcinogen. Most cars also had two other phosphate-based flame retardants that the state of California is investigating as potential carcinogens: Those chemicals are tris (1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCIPP) and tris (2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP). All three chemicals are linked to reproductive and neurological problems -- particularly because they don't stay in the fabrics they're woven into. Flame retardant chemicals off-gas or leach from the seat and interior fabrics into the air, -- especially in hot weather, when car interiors can reach 150 degrees Fahrenheit. A study from 2017 found that the average U.S. child has lost up to 5 IQ points from exposure to flame retardants in cars and furniture. Meanwhile, adults with the highest levels of flame retardants in their blood face a risk of death by cancer that is four times greater than those with the lowest levels, according to a study published last month.
But for how long? (Score:2)
Had the same thought (Score:1)
What is the half-life of the off-gassing process here? In other words, at what age are these cars relatively safe of those cancer-causing chemicals?
I had the same thought, I have to think the "new car smell" is in part that chemical, and after a few years that is pretty much gone.
I also have an older car (2011), which I'm happy about as well... I did buy it new but I drive around with my window down whenever I can so I figure that helped reduce my exposure.
Re:Had the same thought (Score:5, Informative)
It's not just cars that are off gassing flame retardants (FR). From the study linked in the article:
Other FRs, such as alternative brominated flame retardants (BFRs) and organophosphate ester flame retardants (OPEs), are now commonly used to replace phased-out compounds. OPEs in particular have become increasingly popular and are commonly used in polyurethane foam, home furnishings, building materials, textiles, electronics, and vehicles. Studies have now shown that exposure to certain OPEs is associated with altered birth outcomes, reproductive harm, and carcinogenicity. A well-known OPE, tris(1,3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCIPP), has been associated with negative health effects, including decreased fertility, altered thyroid hormone function, and cancer, leading to its addition to the California EPA Prop 65 list in 2011.
As they mentioned in the study, vehicle exposure is an under-studied exposure risk, but it was noted that the levels are much higher in the summer months when the interior of the vehicle is warmer. https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.10... [acs.org]
Article from 2009 warning about toxic car smells (Score:2)
https://edition.cnn.com/2008/L... [cnn.com]
Article from 2009 "Don't inhale that new car smell" by Terry Galanoy.
There has to be an older article out there. The "new car smell" marketing term has to be from 1980 or before.
Re: (Score:2)
There's a reason why they call it "new car smell" as opposed to just regular "car smell."
Not just cars - in many home goods like furniture (Score:4, Insightful)
We need to push for legislation that removes this dangerous rules to include flame retardants in many every day goods. Most mother's breast milk in the US has very harmful amounts of flame retardant, Similar when we used to mandate using Asbestos. Try to solve one problem and create another...normally cancer.
There already a push, but it could use more support.
https://www.saferstates.org/pr... [saferstates.org]
Re: Not just cars - in many home goods like furnit (Score:3)
Re: Not just cars - in many home goods like furn (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
I'm sure they already have.
(This next bit may contain distressing information. Viewer discretion is advised.)
It is possible that the government's analysis disagrees with your opinion.
Shocking idea, isn't it?
I don't know what "driver training" was like in your country, but my passenger-while-flying training (between my first and second flights) included specifically the point of how to locate your seatbel
Re: (Score:1)
Hint: US Government agencies cannot pass laws. That right/obligation is only granted to the US Congress in the US Constitution.
That agency might have enacted a rule or regulation that is supported in the underlying legislation that enacted NHTSA in the first place.
Re:Not just cars - in many home goods like furnitu (Score:4, Informative)
The Congressional review authority is rarely used, and even more rarely is it successful, since the president (with vested interested) can veto it. In effect, a veto proof majority is required for CRA to be successful.
For example, under the current congress, only 47 items have been looked at, 9 have been approved by both bodies of Congress, and all have been vetoed.
Re: (Score:2, Informative)
Thankfully....several cases have come through the court system to SCOTUS and others are in the pipeline, that are being used to slap the hands of the ex
Re: (Score:1)
Re:Not just cars - in many home goods like furnitu (Score:4, Funny)
But...on a positive note, we have seen a substantial decline in the rates of spontaneous human combustion over the past few decades.
So...you have that.
venting about vents (Score:3, Interesting)
I always get cars with sun-roofs or side-vents to allow venting while parked, as I never trusted that funny plastic-y smell.
Retardants you say? (Score:2)
Even more startling was lead’s toll on intelligence: childhood lead exposure may have blunted America’s cumulative IQ score by an estimated 824 million points—nearly three points per person on average. The researchers calculated that at its worst, people born in the mid-to-late 1960s may have lost up to six IQ points, and children registering the highest levels of lead in their blood, eight times the current minimum level to initiate clinical concern, fared even worse, potentially losing more than seven IQ points on average.
A study from 2017 found that the average U.S. child has lost up to 5 IQ points from exposure to flame retardants in cars and furniture.
Oops.
Wool!!! (Score:2)
> All three chemicals ... don't stay in the fabrics they're woven into.
Wool, on the other hand, is naturally flame resistant
Quoting article phrase in a different context:
> any such protection comes at a price
So true. Why are carmakers not investigating this? It's definitely possible:
https://gahh.com/carpet-wilton... [gahh.com]
Re: (Score:3)
Pretty much my thought. I doubt the regulations actually specifies the retardant to be used, merely that the interior pass certain flame tests. The retardant is "merely" the cheapest way to do so today. If not, that's something that needs to be fixed.
Still, seems to be something we should be fixing - first check that alternate safer (to the best of our knowledge, of course) materials exist, then adjust the standards such that they, or an even better replacement, are required.
Re:Wool!!! (Score:4, Informative)
I suspect so too that toxic retardants are "merely" cost effective and that the law does not mandata
That the NHTSA "passed a law requiring their use" is a frustratingly imprecise phrase.
I went searching and found the probable requirement from the NHTSA: "Material shall not burn, nor transmit a flame front across its surface, at a rate of more
than 4 inches per minute."
https://www.nhtsa.gov/sites/nh... [nhtsa.gov]
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
It's part of the sound deadening.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:3)
Hmm... maybe sound deadening, as someone pointed out. But also during accidents the body can contorts in the wierdest of ways. In an accident I was in, the driver of the car that struck me injured his hand. Not from the accident itself -- instead, his airbag inflated rapidly and threw his hand into the A-pillar.
Re:Wool!!! (Score:4, Interesting)
It has long been understood that airbags create more injuries in car accidents by trading off lethal and serious injuries for minor ones. Better an extra 10 people have cracked ribs or bruising than one person dies is the thinking. Hell better 100 people have cracked ribs or bruising than one person dies. You can recover from the bruising or cracked rib, death is permanent.
Re: Wool!!! (Score:2)
You are right.
That's why the widespread Takata airbag problem (where they don't inflate) is such a big problem -- it's like your insurer may be insolvent but you only find out when your house burns down.
My Prius has front facing airbags, no side airbags. In an accident, my car was T-boned hard enough that is spun 180 degrees. But my airbags didn't inflate. That may be perfectly normal, but it's left me wondering if they would inflate in a straight-on collision.
Defending the public health is not easy (Score:3, Informative)
Re: (Score:2)
Yeah, well, everyone knows what car fanatics Algerians are. I hear that between Fast 22 and Fast 23, Dominic Toretto spent some time off-screen competing in the Algerian street racing scene, and got his ass handed to him. All we know about this - other than extensive fan fiction - is one mumble-growled comment in the middle of Fast 23: "Never go against an Algerian. The leaded gas makes them crazy."
Re:Defending the public health is not easy (Score:4, Informative)
In 2021, Algeria became the last country to ban leaded gasoline.
100LL (with 2.12 grams of led per gallon) is still very much used in the US. Around 150 million gallons in 2020.
Re: (Score:2)
100LL is not "gasoline" in any way anyone is using this word and was never put in cars. It has a completely different colloquial name "Avgas" to reflect its use in aviation engines.
Also 150million sounds like a big number. Right until you realise a) just how a plane burns through a metric fuckton of fuel in a single trip (that is 0.984 imperial fucktons for you Americans), and b) that this fuel is predominantly burnt far away from population centres and thus is not an immediate health threat, and c) that th
Re: (Score:1)
In 2021, Algeria became the last country to ban leaded gasoline.
Last country to ban its use for cars. We still used leaded gasoline for general aviation. Gotta let rich people have their toys.
As people living in Cali know (Score:5, Interesting)
Everything is carcinogenic.
On the other note, the reason for fire retardants is not to "prevent fires" as quote mining click bait professional posted in the story. They're not "fire blockers". They're "fire retardants". They retard fires. Slow them down so you have a chance to get out of your safety belt and open the door or climb out of the window. And give rescue crew an extra minute or two to get you out.
Which if you look at a lot of accident videos is in fact those moments of life and death. When fire does finally get through the flame retardants and into the rest of flammable interior properly, it becomes a full blaze very rapidly, in seconds. And bystanders and rescue crews will often manage to pull people out while the car is clearly smoking, but not yet ablaze.
Honestly, just go watch the accident videos with car fires. These are dime a dozen and you'll see a very clear pattern with how fire retardants work, and the moment when flames finally get through them.
Re: (Score:2)
Everything is carcinogenic.
On the other note, the reason for fire retardants is not to "prevent fires" as quote mining click bait professional posted in the story. They're not "fire blockers". They're "fire retardants". They retard fires. Slow them down so you have a chance to get out of your safety belt and open the door or climb out of the window. And give rescue crew an extra minute or two to get you out.
Fun story. An acquaintance of mine noticed a weird smell coming from his car. The dealership took a look at it and couldn't find anything, so they put a data logger on it to see if the engine was doing something weird. Driving to work on the freeway, he saw an orange glow coming from behind the steering wheel column. He immediately pulled over, grabbed his backpack from the passenger seat, and by the time he got out of the car, which was about fifteen seconds from noticing the glow, smoke was pouring out of
Re: (Score:3)
Car Interiors Now Required By US Law? (Score:2)
Talk about government overreach - the Flintstones never needed those things...
Always unintended consequences (Score:1)
Re: (Score:2)
Possible death in 30 years from cancer, certain death today from fire. Easy choice for me.
Re: (Score:2)
Re: (Score:2)
Possible death in 30 years from cancer, certain death today from fire. Easy choice for me.
Dude, you're on slashdot. Be smarter. Death by fiery crash is UNcertain, because fiery crashes are more rare than cancer.
Baby clothes (Score:1, Informative)
What about leather interiors (Score:2)
Do leather interiors have flame retardants added. If not then buying a used car with leather seats seems to be the best approach.
Re: What about leather interiors (Score:3)
As usual... (Score:1)
“I’m from the government and I’m here to help"
We have to support them... (Score:1)
Rapid combustion (Score:2)
Open the windows (Score:2)
and park it in the sun for a few weeks.
You insensitive clod! (Score:4, Funny)
and park it in the sun
I live in Seattle.
Re: (Score:2)
Plus the car will be full of dead midges.
Re: (Score:2)
Decades? Why did they name it Skye? Some sort of twisted, ironic humor?
Re: (Score:2)
Nope, just a different language.
I thought, with so many Americans being "proud" of their Scottish ancestry, there would be no shortage of Gaelic speakers over there to have explained this in infants school. I mean - I just live in the country and have never professed to Scottish ancestry, but I've got a working language of "mountaineer's Gaelic"
Flame retardant laws... (Score:3)
...were supported by the tobacco industry
People fell asleep while smoking, and often drinking, and dropped their cigarette on upholstered furniture, causing a fire
Rather that blame smoking or drinking, the tobacco industry focused on the furniture
We're late to the party on this? (Score:2)
Well now. (Score:2)
Fortunately Congress isn't nearly paralyzed (Score:1)