Air in the car calls for "mandatory" standards

A special survey report on indoor VOCs in passenger cars shows that the indoor air risk of new cars is higher than that of old cars.

With the increasing popularity of private cars, the quality of air inside the car has become a concern for consumers, and complaints about air quality in the car have increased rapidly. Recently, the Shenzhen Consumer Council issued a special survey report on airborne volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in passenger cars in 2014. The report shows that more than half of the indoor air of vehicles can achieve "relevant standards"; the indoor air risk of new cars is higher than that of old cars, the "static" air risk is higher than "dynamic", and the low temperature environment is conducive to the optimization of the air in the car.

According to reports, the actual test method and the reference standard require different test methods, so the test results are for reference only. At present, there is no national or industry-level test standard for the indoor air of vehicles in use, and consumer rights protection is still difficult.

Complaint:

"Exhaust gas" in car becomes a new hot spot

According to the Shenzhen Consumer Council, volatile organic compounds (VOCs) often contain a variety of carcinogens known to be harmful to the human body, such as benzene, toluene, formaldehyde, and acetaldehyde.

At present, there are a lot of man-made materials in ordinary passenger cars. If these materials contain and release VOCs, it will make the car a high-risk area.

The city’s Consumer Council stated that in recent years, the National Association of Consumers’ Associations has been receiving complaints about VOCs related to in-car air. At present, the most important source of VOCs are interior materials such as leather, plastics, textiles, films, viscose, paints, sealing materials, and sound insulation materials.

test:

Randomly selected 51 companies involved in 22 brands

According to reports, this includes 22 car brands from the European, American, Japanese and Korean, and domestic brands.

The sample vehicle is a Shenzhen-registered family car; it has not been retrofitted with interior trim or processed in addition to formaldehyde; the user has no habit of using perfume in the car; it is not loaded with other items that affect vehicle odor; the owner promises to test the three Vehicles are not retrofitted during the month; Vehicles with a registration date of less than 1 year and a mileage of 12,000 kilometers (if odor is serious, this can be excluded).

The test results show that the 51 passenger cars tested in this test were subjected to on-site sampling, laboratory testing, and objective data analysis to conduct a comprehensive evaluation. The average value of each indicator test was far below the limit of the reference standard, and the overall quality performance was better.

Among them, if we refer to GB/T 27630-2011 “Guidelines for Air Quality Assessment in Passenger Cars”, the test value of 31 vehicles out of 51 cars is lower than the requirement of the standard's mid-limit value, accounting for 60.8%; 20 vehicles are high. In the standard limit requirements, accounting for 39.2%.

The reference GB/T18883-2002 "indoor air quality standards", 51 vehicles, 24 vehicles below the standard limit requirements, accounting for 47.1%; 27 vehicles above the standard limit requirements, accounting for 52.9%.

Suggest:

Cars should be moderately exposed to low temperatures

The test results show that the VOCs risk of new cars is generally higher than that of old cars. The reason may be that the new car has not been fully ventilated and VOCs are volatile.

In addition, low temperatures help to control the volatilization of VOCs. Due to driving air conditioning, maintaining low temperature, is conducive to VOCs control.

The Shenzhen Consumer Council stated that regular cleaning of air conditioners is beneficial to VOCs control. Dynamic is open air conditioning, internal circulation. The low temperature is favorable, but the engine and the air conditioner itself may cause certain VOCs to be released during the work process, which will also have a certain impact on the air in the vehicle.

In addition, the Shenzhen Consumer Council stated that in this test, there is no direct relationship between vehicle type and VOCs release.

According to the test results, the Shenzhen Consumer Council believes that good vehicle usage habits can optimize the air in the vehicle. It is recommended that consumers do not drive, adequate ventilation, and even adequate exposure, so that the full release of VOCs in the material; to maintain the appropriate temperature during driving, it is recommended to be less than 25 °C.

At the same time, keep the car air-conditioning clean, do not use inferior material interior or counterfeit perfumes, reduce the use of cleaning agents to clean leather goods, so as not to bring new sources of VOCs pollution.

Suggest

National clear new car factory

Should identify VOCs content

The Shenzhen Consumer Council stated that at present, the air quality standards in China's interior are recommended and there is no effective restriction, and the limits of various substances in the standard are generally lower than those of other countries.

Therefore, the Consumer Council of China and the Shenzhen Consumer Council proposed that the relevant authorities should change the national standard GB/T 27630 to mandatory standards. The current national standard GB/T 27630 is not a mandatory standard, and it is only a recommended standard for new vehicles. Manufacturers have no mandatory obligations. At the same time, it is recommended that the relevant state departments clearly require auto manufacturers to identify VOCs content when new vehicles are manufactured and sold, and indicate whether they meet the national standards for reference when consumers purchase alternatives.

The Shenzhen Consumer Council stated that at present, there is no national or industry-level test standard for the use of indoor vehicle air. It is recommended that industry alliance standards be established first, and simple, low-cost test methods should be developed to facilitate consumer rights protection; Carry out transformation of the production line to reduce the harmful effects of harmful substances in the paint on the health of vehicle owners.