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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

That new car smell has a whiff of health hazards

Surface temperature drives emissions of chemicals that give a newly manufactured vehicle its signature aroma.
Latin American salesman showing a car to a couple interested in buying at the dealership.

The sales pitch for a new car probably won’t mention the hazardous chemicals that waft off the vehicle’s interior surfaces. Credit: Getty

Over a lifetime, a driver faces a high cancer risk from the chemicals behind that distinct new-car smell, whose emissions depend on the surface temperatures of a vehicle’s interior1.

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Nature 616, 414 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-01034-9

References

  1. Wang, H. et al. Cell Rep. Phys. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2023.101375 (2023).

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