The average American spends 293 hours in their car in one year. That’s much build-up of bacteria if you don’t give your vehicle a regular cleaning.
The air circulating inside your vehicle’s cabin may include pollutants from three different sources: the outdoor air, the car itself, and the occupants. Our cars may be dirtier than we realize. In fact, many investigations, working with scientific laboratories, have shown that lurking within the average car is more than 3,826 units of bacteria per square inch. To put that number in perspective, it’s 19 times more bacteria than you might find on a toilet seat.
One of the many things that came out of the pandemic is a high awareness centered around the air we breathe. Although COVID 19 is winding down, many still feel anxious every time the media mentions a “new variant.” Let’s face it: we created a bigger, more self-conscious group of people who have an extreme fear of germs and are more obsessed with cleanliness now than ever. There are so many new terms that came out of the “Pandemic” like “Social Distance,” “Self-quarantine,” and “Aerosolized droplets,” amongst others.
Many of us had to learn to think and act differently socially and open our minds to new ideas about state-of-the-art cleaning technology. Do you ever have a year where you are constantly getting sick, just one time after another? You may never think your car would have something to do with it. If so, you’d be wrong.
Over 330 million people live in the United States and over half of them, for lack of a better term, are now germaphobes.
One term that’s gained momentum since the pandemic started is Vehicle Interior Air Quality (Material, Technology, Emission), VIAQ. VIAQ is nothing new, just more talked about now since the pandemic.
Scientists, consumers, health advocates, and even legislators know that our vehicle interior air quality or VIAQ is something we need to pay more attention to.
Drivers who commute in large or congested cities have an exceptionally high risk of exposure to particulate matter and unhealthy air. This is because, throughout a long drive, your car cabin can accumulate levels of particulate matter and gases. The dashboard, for instance, turned out to have the second-largest amount of microorganisms present.
A group of scientists studied the inside cabin of cars to help us better understand what we’re dealing with…
“Shockingly, each car also contained a significantly higher total bacterial load than each toilet sampled” – Dr. Johnathan Cox.
Until manufacturers start making intelligent vehicles that automatically keep the car cabin’s air cleaner, we will have to figure it out ourselves… Tesla has developed a HEPA filtration system capable of stripping the outside air of pollen, bacteria, and pollution before entering the cabin and systematically scrubbing the air inside the house to eliminate any trace of these particles. It’s worth mentioning that China, Korea, and Japan have or are preparing to enforce new VIAQ government regulations.
What's the Problem?
Your existing car cabin air filters are only designed to remove large particles like pollen and dust from your car’s air. Consequently, they are not good at filtering smaller, submicrometer particles from vehicle emissions like carbon dioxide (exhaled by passengers) and nitrogen oxide (from vehicle emissions). These gases, when inhaled, can impair decision-making, make you sleepy, or exert adverse health effects.
Other factors that can affect or exacerbate the risk of car cabin pollutants are heavy stop-and-go traffic, ventilation fan speed, contaminants in the outside air, and the number of passengers in the car.
What’s the solution?
The fastest and most effective way to immediately kill surface bacteria, viruses, and fungus is by treating the vehicle with Disingerm® Guard & Shield Green. After giving your car a good wash and disingerming,
we recommend a Vehicle Air Cabin Control System (VACCS) that purifies and regenerates the air every 15 minutes within the cabin.
We have partnered with Medify Air and recommend their purifiers. The MA-CAR Purifier captures up to 99.9% of particles down to 0.1 microns using True HEPA H13. It's suited for cars, trucks, and SUVs with up to 7 seats. Perfect for people living in cities, anyone with a long commute, taxi and rideshare drivers. Help keep yourself and your passengers safe with clean air.
Why do you need a car air purifier?
Besides the reasons mentioned above, the threat of covid still lingers with several different variants.
Reducing COVID-19 transmission in the air is essential in preventing future infections. Aerosol droplets are very tiny and linger in the air for long durations. This is especially relevant for long car rides where aerosol droplets can build up concentration over time, like an hour-long ride.
With so much time spent in your vehicle, you’ll want to provide yourself and your passengers with the best air quality possible, especially during those grueling allergy-ridden days when you can’t catch a break between sneezing and blowing your nose. Since cars play such a massive role in our daily lives, it’s essential to take care of them both inside and out.
The Medify Air Car Purifier can keep you and your family on the road to good health and help make sure that your vehicle's air quality is in top condition.
References
06/18 What are cars made of
