Could your car make you sick? Study highlights potentially cancerous toxins in vehicles

Americans may be breathing in cancer-causing chemicals while driving, recent research suggests.

A study published in the journal Environmental Science & Technology has sparked discussions about the potentially harmful toxins that could be lurking in the cabins of vehicles.

“Certainly the indoor air quality can cause health symptoms,” Dr. Ken Speath, M.D., the division chief and medical director for occupational and environmental medicine at Northwell Health on Long Island, New York, told Fox News Digital.

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It is important to be mindful of what you’re breathing in at home, at the office, at school and even in cars, according to Speath, who was not involved in the study.

“There can be situations where levels of harmful chemicals get high enough to potentially cause health harms,” he said.

“A car is a closed small space — so whatever is in the air is certainly going to be breathed in.”

Research reveals ‘harmful chemicals’

The peer-reviewed study looked at 101 owned vehicles in the U.S., model year 2015 or newer.

The researchers concluded that harmful flame-retardant chemicals — including those suspected of potentially causing cancer and some neurological issues — may be polluting the air inside vehicles.

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“Flame retardant chemicals, which are intentionally added to vehicle interiors to meet flammability standards, are released into the cabin air from the materials to which they were applied,” lead author Rebecca Hoehn, a scientist at Duke University, told Fox News Digital.

“People in these vehicles may be exposed to these chemicals.”

Seat foam was the only material the researchers measured, Hoehn said, but other interior materials could also contain the chemicals.

“Considering the average driver spends about an hour in the car every day, this is a significant public health issue,” Hoehn warned.

“It’s particularly concerning for drivers with longer commutes, as well as child passengers, who breathe more air pound for pound than adults.”

The chemicals detected in the car cabins included a flame retardant called tris (1-chloro-isopropyl) phosphate (TCIPP), which is currently being investigated as a potential carcinogen by the U.S. National Toxicology Program.

“Considering the average driver spends about an hour in the car every day, this is a significant public health issue.”

Other flame retardants — tris (1, 3-dichloro-2-propyl) phosphate (TDCIPP) and tris (2-chloroethyl) phosphate (TCEP) — were also detected. 

These are “two Californian Proposition 65 carcinogens linked to neurological and reproductive harms,” according to a press release.

Higher concentrations of the flame retardants were found during warmer weather.

“We found that the same cars, sampled in both winter and summer, had higher concentrations of flame retardants in the cabin air during the warm summer months,” Hoehn told Fox News Digital.

Flame retardants are added to vehicles to meet the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard (FMVSS 302), which mandated their use in the 1970s, the release stated.

Flame retardants have been the “focus of concern for some time,” Speath told Fox News Digital.

More information is needed to determine the health risks these chemicals pose in humans, he said.

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“A number of these have been demonstrated in studies to have health harms in animals,” he said.

“That doesn’t necessarily mean that would be true for humans, but it raises that possibility, so we need to study these chemicals more in relation to their effects on humans.”

Emanuela Taioli, M.D., PhD, the director of the Institute for Translational Epidemiology at Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, was also not part of the study, but shared her reactions.

“This is a very relevant finding, since it may prompt changes in cars’ upholstery, as well as in other parts of the car where there is foam,” she told Fox News Digital via email.

“We also want to know more about this finding and monitor whether it is replicated by other investigators.”

Other sources of toxins

Stephen Showalter, a home inspector and indoor environmental air consultant with Showalter Property Consultants in Maryland, said he typically interviews clients about their history of illness, then tests for potential sources of sickness in buildings, cars, RVs and boats. 

Mold is a common culprit when it comes to health issues triggered by one’s environment, he said in an interview with Fox News Digital.

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Dr. Daniel Johns, a member of the International Society of Environmentally Acquired Illnesses and a chiropractor who practices in Annapolis, Maryland, echoed Showalter’s concerns about mold-related health issues.

Johns also cautioned that cars can be a daily source of mold exposure.

“Any water that leaks from a window, sunroof or convertible can get into the carpet and cause mold growth,” he said during an interview with Fox News Digital. 

“Mold can start growing on a wet surface within 24 to 48 hours.”

For families with small children, spilled sippy cups could play a role when it comes to mold in cars, Johns warned.

“The water seeps into the upholstery and doesn’t get noticed or properly dried out, and the whole seat can become moldy,” he said.

“Mold can start growing on a wet surface within 24 to 48 hours.”