Vehicle Interior Material Emissions and Contributions in Passenger Vehicle Cabin Air Quality

Polymer compounds used in the manufacturing of automotive interiors are traditionally consist of polymer virgin material, elastomers, additives, pigments, fillers. These compounded polymers are prone to the emission of low molecular weight chemicals over a period of usage and exposure to the environment called volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and carbonyl compounds. These released VOCs and carbonyl compounds consist of chemicals like benzene, toluene, xylene, styrene, acetaldehyde, formaldehyde, acrolein etc. Short term or long-term exposure of these chemicals have adverse health effects like nausea, headache, vomiting, cancer, even death of personnel if found beyond the permissible limits. It has been observed that the majority of passenger have the above symptoms whenever travelled using passenger cars within few minutes of boarding and exchange the car cabin air. The study was planned to understand the reasons for the concerns and further resolution. This paper is focused on the identification of parts and material, evaluation against the recommended tests like Odor, Fogging, VOC, and Carbonyl compound emissions and development of materials used inside the car cabin. This study further provides the acceptance limit of VOCs and carbonyl compound emissions inside the passenger vehicle cabin to address the adverse personnel health concern.