Car guide ranks models by chemical makeup

How do you evaluate a car when you want to buy one? Frankly speaking, price must be one but not the only one chief aspect. Additionally, the quality of the car, how comfortable it is, and even whether it is safe enough are some other common concerns. Recently, Ecology Center “rated more than 200 models based on interior parts — from steering wheels to armrests — whose chemical components could break down over time.”

They announced that because people are actually spending about 1.5 hours in their cars per day, it is a very important issue that how will the chemical toxics in the car affect the drivers’ health. Ecology Center’s did experiments on 2006 and 2007 vehicle models. "The findings demonstrated that the air in the cabin of these cars was contaminated by high concentrations of a large variety of organic compound diffusing from the interior materials," the researchers said in the study, published in the journal Indoor and Built Environment.

However, American Chemistry Council disagreed with this result. "Scientists know that the mere presence of a chemical doesn't automatically make it a public health issue," Marian Stanley, who headed a council panel reviewing the report, said in a statement at the time.

It is still unclear whether those chemicals are truly harmful to human beings so far. But what I wonder is that when buyers know such fact, would they change their ideas and how much would this result affect their decision?