In our daily lives, we are exposed to many chemicals that can have a negative impact on our health. Cars are unique indoor spaces that are often overlooked in terms of their contribution to human exposure to chemicals, and a recent RECETOX study published in Environmental Monitoring and Assessment has found very high levels of flame retardants in Czech vehicles.
“Flame retardants are chemicals added to vehicle interior parts such as seat textiles, seat foam, and carpeting to reduce material flammability. Although this is not required in most European regions, vehicle producers tend to align with stricter USA flammability standards, adding high levels of chemical flame retardants to vehicle interiors. Even though flame retardants can reduce fire risk in some cases, some flame retardants have been associated with negative health and environmental effects,” explains Petra Svobodová as first author. In the study, flame retardants were measured in dust from the seats, dashboards and trunks of 10 Skoda Octavia and Skoda Fabia models. Dust is a good indicator of synthetic chemical use, in this case showing the use of flame retardants in car interiors. The levels of some flame retardants in car dust were higher than in other indoor spaces, such as homes and offices, suggesting that with increasing usage of vehicles and longer commute times, cars may be an important source of flame retardant exposure.
“On a positive note, the study found that newer cars have significantly lower levels of penta-BDE, a flame retardant which was banned around the turn of the millennium. However, while levels of penta-BDE are much lower in newer cars, it has not disappeared entirely—its continued presence may be due to increasing use of recycled plastics in vehicle interiors.” explains Petra Svobodová.
Passenger safety is important to manufacturers and passengers themself, but it is not always easy to know which chemicals are used in your cars. If you want to reduce your chemical exposures in your car, you can take some simple actions: ventilate the car sufficiently before getting into it and during its use and vacuum or wipe surfaces to remove accumulated dust from time to time.
DOI: 10.1007/s10661-025-13822-z
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