In Vehicle VOC Venting
It has been established that inhaling in vehicle VOC’s is not good and for some people can result in health-related issues. From the dashboard to interior panels and seat coverings to flooring materials, most automotive interior components are comprised of plastics and other materials that contain various amounts of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and other chemicals. Unfortunately, within the confined space of an automobile’s passenger compartment, concentrations of chemicals emitted from these components may reach levels that are potentially harmful to human occupants.
VOCs with the greatest potential toxicity to humans in vehicles are Benzene, Formaldehyde, Ethyl benzene, Styrene, Toluene, Xylene and Acetaldehyde, just to name a few.
Regulations or voluntary standards regarding permissible concentration levels of VOCs in new vehicles have been implemented or adopted in a handful of countries; though the standards may differ.
Reference
https://cars.usnews.com/cars-trucks/best-cars-blog/2016/09/is-that-new-car-smell-toxic
https://www.nature.com/articles/7500250
https://www3.epa.gov/ttn/chief/conference/ei19/session6/mendoza.pdf
https://www.iqair.com/blog/air-quality/in-car-pollution
You’ve probably deduced by now that even though a vehicle’s new car smell can be pleasant for your senses, it may not be doing your health any favors.
The good news is that you can reduce your exposure to harmful VOCs simply by letting lots of fresh air into your vehicle’s cabin in the first few weeks after purchase.
Design HMI investigate is into technology innovations that can help drastically reduce in vehicle VOC’s during transportation and stocking (normally 90 days after manufacture) and / or 1st three months of vehicle usage.
Below are some current in market solutions / concept ideas.
- Natural Ventilation used in home building is the process of supplying air to and removing air from an indoor space
without using mechanical systems. It refers to the flow of external air to an indoor space as a result of pressure differences arising from natural forces. There are two types of natural ventilation occurring in buildings: wind driven ventilation and buoyancy-driven ventilation. Wind driven ventilation arises from the different pressures created by wind around a building or structure, and openings being formed on the perimeter which then permit flow through the building. Buoyancy-driven ventilation occurs as a result of the directional buoyancy force that results from temperature differences between the interior and exterior. Since the internal heat gains which create temperature differences between the interior and exterior are created by natural processes, including the heat from people, and wind effects are variable, naturally ventilated buildings are sometimes called “breathing buildings”. Refer https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_ventilation. - The Atem Car air purifier and HyperHEPA® Plus filter use air filtration technology tested and certified to capture a wide range of in-cabin air pollutants in a housing designed to blend into any vehicle cabin.
- ODOREZE® offers a unique Bake-It-Out Heat but relatively simple solution. Effectiveness of this solution still to be determined. Step 1: Raise the temperature; Step 2: Ventilate Step 3: Clean; Step 4 Go through the car with a microfiber cloth and a non-toxic cleaner deodorizer such as ODOREZE® Multi-Purpose Odor Eliminator Spray. Question is that if it was so simple why have not the OE’s instituted this in plant or at their dealer’s location.
- HEPA filter, which is designed to remove 99.97 percent of all particles down to 0.3 microns in size is not designed to remove VOCs or odors from your car.
- Standard filters are impregnated with carbon, which can remove some VOCs and odors, and some are impregnated with baking powder, which helps tackle odor problems. However, the cabin filter is primarily designed to remove particulate pollutants, so the small amount of added carbon is probably not enough to remove a significant amount of the VOCs in a car.
- Plug-in filters air flow rates are generally too low to be very effective. Worse, ionization produces ozone as a side effect. Ozone is a lung irritant and can be toxic at high concentrations. In the enclosed space of a car cabin, the ozone could build to dangerous levels very quickly.
- Titan 12V DC System Blower Cooling Fan- 86mm x 75mm x 10 mm while not designed for in vehicle venting may be tested for application.
- Acool is custom designed and made according to the dimensions of each car’s front / rear door window to ensure the right fit. No rubber strips and trimmings are required to seal the window gaps. This car ventilator is powered by a 50W solar panel which works brilliantly by bringing the cooler air from outside into your car through using its four blower fans attached to it and in a similar way it also blows out the hot air of your car outside through the opposite out module thus making your car cooler in seconds.
- BRID uses a powerful cleaning technology called Photocatalytic Oxidation (PCO). The same technology is used,
for example, by NASA. BRID is not a mere conventional filter, think of it as a ‘Cold’ furnace that burns pollution, bacteria, odors, etc. and generates vapor and CO2 as a byproduct. It’s as simple as that. BRID’s patented innovation does not use UV light, unlike all other PCO purifiers do. The advantage of this patent is the absence of ozone as a byproduct. Only BRID offers this breakthrough technological leap. BRID does not merely trap pollutants, bacteria, etc. It ‘vaporizes’ them through photocatalysis (PCO), which is an extremely efficient and effective process. - Ford’s latest patent details how the company may dispose of the scent. Since the materials release more of their odors in hot temperatures, Ford wants to bake cars. The patent describes a system that parks the car in the sun and opens the windows. The software may also run the engine and turn both the heat and air conditioning on to help expel the scent. The system described only works with a self-driving car or semi-autonomous vehicle, however. Should the car identify a window of opportunity to reduce the scent, it’ll drive itself to a sunbathing spot and perform the cycle.
- Some simple solutions to reduce VOC’s are:
- Place a few scoops of baking soda in an uncovered container.
- Soak up the scent with vinegar.
- Place barbecue charcoal under the seats.
- Purggo air freshener, which encloses bamboo charcoal in a hemp fabric outer layer is another simple solution. According to Purggo a study published in the Journal of Health Science titled “Science of Bamboo Charcoal: Study on Carbonizing Temperature of Bamboo Charcoal and Removal Capability of Harmful Gases,” by the Nagaoka University of Technology in Japan, researchers tested bamboo charcoal’s capabilities. The results seemed overwhelmingly positive. Refer: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/markzhang/purggo-bamboo-charcoal-car-air-eco-purifier. According to them material composition of Purggo is 100% moso bamboo charcoal, 100% hemp fabric and 100% cotton rope and stitching. Purggo’s bamboo is sourced from all over Asia and carbonized using traditional kilns.
NOTE:
A study assessed the concentrations of specific volatile organic compounds (VOCs) inside vehicle cabins under different practical vehicle driving conditions in China. The mean concentrations of the VOCs, including benzene, toluene, xylene, ethylbenzene, styrene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone, and acrolein, were 16.73 μg/m3, 66.02 μg/m3, 14.20 μg/m3, 6.78 μg/m3, 28.09 μg/m3, 16.43 μg/m3, 12.47 μg/m3, and 20.65 μg/m3 (the sum of acetone and acrolein), respectively. All the specified VOCs inside vehicle cabins were not exceeded the limits of the national standard. The in-cabin VOCs concentrations were investigated for 16 private vehicles under three ventilation conditions: (i) fan off and recirculation (RC) off, (ii) fan on and RC off, and (iii) fan on and RC on. The VOCs concentrations increased 50.46% (mean of the measured VOCs) when the ventilation condition changed from (ii) to (i) and increased 51.38% (mean of the measured VOCs) when ventilation condition changed from (ii) to (iii). Two vehicle models (vehicle model A and vehicle model B) were tested in the study to investigate the influence on in-cabin VOCs concentrations of two typical interior trims (leather, fabric). The VOCs concentrations inside B vehicles (leather interiors) were averagely 1.42 times larger than the concentrations in A vehicle (fabric interiors). For new vehicles, the concentrations of benzene, toluene, xylene, ethylbenzene, formaldehyde, acetaldehyde, acetone and acrolein were larger than the concentrations inside old vehicles by 12.89%, 103.54%, 123.14%, 104.20%, 6.26%, 6.31%, and 10.67%, respectively. The VOCs concentrations significantly increased as the raise of ambient temperature. Toluene, styrene, ethylbenzene, and xylene were the most sensitive VOCs to temperature, which increased 513.6%, 544.8%, 767.0%, and 597.7% as the temperature increased from 11 °C to 25 °C. Refer https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S1309104215000525 for more information.
I understand that early last year, the Chinese government revised its national standards to lower the threshold of acceptable emission values in automotive interiors. China’s new standards lower the acceptable level of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in a vehicle’s cabin. As a category of organic substances that are already volatile at room temperature, VOCs can come from construction materials, textiles, and adhesives. Since some VOCs have been linked to harmful health effects, they are not desirable indoors.
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