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Ann Arbor non-profit leads in air quality research

Wednesday, November 11, 2009

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Ann Arbor

That new car smell isn't as good as you would think, and the Ann Arbor-based Ecology Center knows why.

Excerpt:

WHEN the Ecology Center, a nonprofit environmental advocacy group, released its 2009 guide to toxic chemicals in cars in September, the results held a pleasant surprise. For the first time since the center began rating vehicle interiors in 2007, a car built in the United States by a Detroit automaker had the lowest levels of toxic chemicals among all the models evaluated.

The vehicle that earned the best rating was the Cobalt from General Motors' Chevrolet division, a compact whose low price appeals to customers eager to buy a factory-fresh car. The good grades indicate that Cobalt buyers will have a much lower chance of encountering one of the least appealing aspects of owning a new vehicle: chemical odors in the car that are strong enough to make occupants ill.

"What many refer to as new-car smell is actually the result of chemicals in the car's interior being released into the passenger compartment," said Jeff Gearhart, research director for the Ecology Center, based in Ann Arbor, Mich. "When inhaled, some of these chemicals can have serious effects on the health of vehicle occupants."

Read the rest of the story here.