Could your car make you sick?

twopu

New member
On the Today Show they did a piece on whether your car could make you sick.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/default.cdnx/id/13917269/displaymode/1157



They analyzed two cars: minivan used for carpooling and the reporters well maintained Mercedes. They found in both vehicles various forms of bacterial, germs and mold colonies. This lead me to think that I need to disinfect my car. Now I clean my car regularly but I don't think any of my interior cleaners (Woolite and Meguiars APC) have any disinfectants. They recommend changing your cabin filter, spraying your vents with disinfectant, vacuuming regular, etc.



What do you guys do if any to disinfect your cars? Also, does anyone know if a 2000 Accord has a cabin filter? The manual says nothing about it.
 
The chemicals in your cleaning products are much more hazardous to your health than some mold and mildew are.



New cars come with the bonus feature of off gassing plastics.
 
You don't need to sterilize your car. Using scare tactics is the media's favorite way to present stories. Bacteria, mold, and mildew are everywhere.
 
foxtrapper said:
The chemicals in your cleaning products are much more hazardous to your health than some mold and mildew are.



New cars come with the bonus feature of off gassing plastics.



I agree, the cleaning products and off-gassing of plastics and carpet are much more harmful. There isn't much to protect someone from breathing that stuff in while sitting in a car. As for mold or bacteria, we can at least boost our immune systems to keep ourselves protected.
 
The media probably just blew it out of proportion. If our vehciles were really a leading cause to illness, we would all be getting sick left and right since we're driving consistently. Like fox said, detailing chemicals are much more hazardous to our health. Living a healthy lifestyle and keeping your immune system up should be more then enough to fight off whatevers in your car, much less everywhere else as well.
 
velobard, White95Max, Deviant, and truzoom have it nailed: media hype.
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On a grander scale, Michael Crichton has some enlightening statistics and thoughts for you here:

http://www.michaelcrichton.com/speeches/complexity/complexity.html



Sample:

"In other words, the greatest damage to the people of Chernobyl was caused by bad information. These people weren’t blighted by radiation so much as by terrifying but false information."
 
Perfect example of media hype. You've been in cars all this time, and haven't noticed anything. Now that you see/read it, your mind starts playing games with you.



If it makes you feel any better, roll down the windows like I do to get proper ventillation. Saves you gas money!



On a grander scale,



My Dell XPS 700 system which I ordered July 4th for $1100 with 24" monitor is now being upgraded from Pentium D 920 to Duo Core for free! Big difference in power. Silly how the computer was up for sale in May 30 but no one has received it yet. Soon to ship out though, supposedly.
 
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