If you’re like most people, the smell of a new car makes you think of success and excitement. But now it might make you think of cancer.
And, if you’re like us, you’re an avid reader of the journal Cell Reports Physical Science.
Researchers from the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and the Beijing Institute of Technology studied the air inside a new midsize SUV plug-in hybrid electric vehicle over a 12-day period. They moved the car in and out of a garage in different types of weather, attempting to mimic usage patterns typical of new car owners.
The news is most concerning to those who spend long stretches of time with new cars, such as dealership employees, rideshare drivers, or the kind of automotive journalist who drives new cars to evaluate them for… you know what… let’s just move on.