The average American spends almost an hour each day commuting to work, a number that adds up quickly.
Now, research has shown that California vehicle travelers may be exposed to unhealthy chemical levels above acceptable levels during their daily work trips.
The new study, which calculates travel times from census data and uses chemical measurements detected in previous studies, found that travel of more than 20 minutes puts people at unacceptably high levels of two carcinogens used. in vehicle manufacturing.
At first glance, this may seem like worrying news to people who spend a lot of time behind the wheel on daily commutes. But there are a lot of factors at play, so let’s decompress it a bit.
The different smell of a new car gives you a sense of what’s going on here. The materials used to equip cars, from hard and soft plastics to adhesives, textiles and foams, contain some chemicals that can slowly seep into the air (the technical term is “gaseous gas”) or trap the dust.
“These chemicals are very volatile, they move easily from plastics and textiles to the air you breathe,” said environmental toxicologist David Volz of the University of California Riverside, who co-authored the study.
Volatile compounds can accumulate in confined spaces, such as inside a car (unless you open a window for fresh air).
Although much research so far has focused on outdoor air pollution and its impact on health and indoor environments, such as workplaces or homes where people spend most of their days. , this study suggests that the formation of chemicals inside vehicles could also be a concern, for some. drivers.
The study aimed to estimate when a person’s exposure to known carcinogens probably overturned safety thresholds based on the time travelers spent inside their vehicles and the levels of five chemicals detected. inside vehicles in previous studies.
The researchers predicted that travelers ’daily exposure to two out of five chemicals studied (benzene and formaldehyde) would likely exceed levels considered safe or allowed by California health authorities after 20 minutes. The probability continued to increase the longer a person travels.
The two chemicals of concern are not huge strangers, but they certainly deserve attention. Benzene is found in gum and dyes, and formaldehyde is used in carpets and paints, and both are included in the long list of carcinogens in Proposition 65 of California. The novelty here is to analyze the risk that these chemicals may pose specifically for drivers.
“Our study raises concerns about the potential risk associated with inhaling benzene and formaldehyde for people who spend a significant amount of time in their vehicles, an issue that is especially relevant for congested traffic areas where people it has longer displacements, ”the author states. he wrote.
It is perhaps not surprising that a larger fraction of people were more likely (greater than 1 in 10) to exceed benzene and formaldehyde cancer risk thresholds in their daily commutes to areas around San Francisco and the famous Los Angeles traffic.
“Of course, there’s a range of exposure that depends on how long you’re in the car and how much compounds your car emits,” which can depend on the age of the vehicle and the surrounding temperatures, he said. graduate student lead author Aalekhya Reddam, also of the University of California Riverside.
In other words, the fact that something appears as a carcinogen does not mean that it is guaranteed to cause health problems, but depends on the dose to which people are exposed and how often they are found.
Known carcinogens are not even likely to cause cancer below certain thresholds and limiting exposure to harmful substances greatly contributes to reducing any associated risk.
In addition, the poor health outcomes observed among travelers (which include higher rates of cancer) can result from a combination of inactivity, obesity, and shorter sleep that often lead to long commutes. These factors were not considered in this study.
Some people, however, have no choice but to travel by car, or perhaps are taxi drivers, whose job is to is to drive. To reduce the risk of exposure, more could be done during the car manufacturing process to replace chemicals such as benzene and formaldehyde with less harmful alternatives, the researchers said.
“Because people with long commutes are already an already vulnerable underpopulation, additional measures may need to be implemented in order to mitigate the potential cancer risks associated with benzene and formaldehyde exposure,” the duo wrote in their paper.
“There should be alternatives to these chemicals to achieve the same goals during vehicle manufacturing,” Volz added. “If so, they should be used.”
Improving access to public transport and bicycle networks could also give people more options to get to work and, at the same time, add some incidental exercise to their travel and help alleviate traffic congestion that clogs roads. from the city.
The research was published in International Environment.