Benzene in Automobiles

I received a warning alert yesterday in my email messages. I cleaned it up just a little to make it more readable, but I certainly didn’t change the message. I want to use this as a springboard to show how distorted these messages can get and why we have to truth-check each and every one of them before forwarding them to others.

I have another reason for using this particular warning alert as my example; it reinforces a column that I wrote just a few seeks ago. In my column, Useful Car Tips, I made a recommendation on how to best utilize your car’s air conditioning. If you follow that advice, you shouldn’t have any trouble with benzene during the summer. Now winter is a whole different season...

Here is the text of the message I received:

No wonder folks are dying from cancer more than ever before. We wonder where this stuff comes from but here is an example that may explain some of the cancer causing incidents. Please pass this on to as many people as possible. Guess it's never too late to make some changes!!

Car A/C (Air Conditioning) MUST READ!!!

Do NOT turn on A/C as soon as you enter the car.

Open the windows after you enter your car and turn ON the air-conditioning after a couple of minutes.

Here's why: According to research the car dashboard emits Benzene, a Cancer causing toxin into the air of your car. Have you ever noticed the smell of heated plastic in your car?

In addition to causing cancer, Benzene poisons your bones, causes anemia and reduces white blood cells.

Prolonged exposure could cause Leukemia, increasing the risk of cancer. It may also cause miscarriage

Acceptable Benzene level indoors is 50 mg per sq. ft. A car parked in a garage with windows closed will contain 400-800 mg of Benzene.

If parked outdoors under the sun at a temperature above 60 degrees F, the Benzene level goes up to 2000-4000 mg, 40 times the acceptable level.

People who get into the car, keeping windows closed will inevitably inhale excessive amounts of the toxin.

Benzene is a toxin that affects your kidney and liver. What's worse, it is extremely difficult for your body to expel this toxic stuff.

So friends, please open the windows and allow the car to air out before you close it up and turn your air on.

Thought: when someone shares something of value with you and you benefit from it, you have a moral obligation to share it with others.

I went to my truth-checker, www.snopes.com, and learned that there is a mixture of fact and fiction in the above message. (If you want to read the entire Snopes comments and analysis, type ‘benzene in automobiles’ [without quotes] into their search engine.)

According to Barbara Mikkelson, benzene levels are actually higher in older cars, and exposure levels are higher in winter, which suggests that air conditioning is not a major factor in benzene exposure.

I am always skeptical about “facts” in the alert messages. For instance, did you notice that there is no reference source for the statistics on levels of benzene under varying conditions? The anonymous author of the warning could easily have dreamed up those numbers to make the warning seem more real.

If Mrs. Mikkelson’s facts—which are supported with a source—are true, then the opposite levels should prevail. That is, the colder the temperature, the more benzene fume exposure there is.

On the other hand, there is supporting evidence that benzene does present a sufficient cancer risk that we should avoid exposure at any level. That part of the warning is apparently true and good advice.

However, the benzene doesn’t come from the air-conditioner, but from all of the plastic that is present in the passenger compartment; stirring it around with a fan is not a factor in how much you inhale. The more important factor is the sealed compartment you are sitting in. Opening the windows should dissipate the concentration.

Now, back to my original analysis... I believe that the main meat of the warning alert has been sufficiently debunked that I would not consider it “...a moral obligation to share it with others.” However, it might be of value for you to air out your vehicle, even in the winter, before you condition the air with either hot or cold conditioning.

I also recommend that you scroll down and read that aforementioned column and follow my advice on how to air-condition your car in the summer. It has even more benefit, now that we’ve established that there is at least some risk in breathing benzene fumes.