The most toxic cars on the road
Hundreds of chemicals, such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) and brominated flame retardants (BFR), are used in automotive interiors. These chemicals are used to make plastics flexible, make fabrics fire-resistant, and contribute to that "new car smell." But they're also associated with birth defects, impaired learning, liver toxicity, and cancer.
To find out what chemicals and their amounts are used in cars, researchers at Ecology Center, which publishes the consumer awareness site Healthystuff.org, tested 11 components in more than 200 vehicles from the 2011 and 2012 model years using an x-ray fluorescence analyzer. The test scans a … Read more