Roll down, get, set, go!

H. Kishie Singh

Advertisement

It is entirely possible that you may come across this word spelt as ‘benzene’ or ‘benzine’. If the spelling is different, be assured they mean different things. Benzene is a chemical derived from coal tar. Benzine is a spirit obtained from petroleum products. Europeans refer to petrol as ‘benzine’. You hardly come into contact with benzine because it fires up your engine and goes out through the exhaust.

However, beware of benzene. Consider this:

A couple comes out of an air-conditioned mall and has to walk 50 meters to the car.

She: “Arrey! It is so hot! Main toh mar jaungi.”

He: “Fikar not darling! Our car has super AC!”

He unlocks the car and both jump into it. He fires up the engine and turns on the AC. The ‘oohs and aahs’ of delight from the darling are the man’s reward. Obviously, he has not read the ‘driver’s manual’. Now, if you too have not read it, using a little bit of common sense won’t hurt.

Here, what excites all of us is the ‘new car smell’. In days gone by, the ‘new car smell’ came from the highly polished wood work and leather upholstery. These natural materials did have an exotic smell and added to the love affair with the car.

Most of the materials in today’s cars are plastic, be it the seat material or the dash-board and are derived from ‘benzene’. This smell, exotic as it may be, is poisonous. It is for this reason that the manufacturer recommends rolling down the windows and letting the hot air out before turning on the AC.

The reason behind this is simple. Benzene odour is carcinogenic, a cancer-causing toxin. Driving with windows down for 100 metres will help expel the hot benzene-loaded air from the car. Turn on the AC and once the cool air starts blowing, roll up the windows. You have just saved yourself from a dose of poisonous air.

Most people are in their cars first thing in the morning and the last thing at night from five to six days a week. Housewives, whether they are going out for shopping or taking children to school, breathe benzene fumes.

In addition to being carcinogenic, benzene odour is highly poisonous and can cause anemia and reduce white blood cell production. It is harmful to pregnant women. Children, whose immunity system is not fully developed, are in particular danger.

The ‘acceptable’ benzene level at your home is 50 mg per square foot.  A car parked in your garage will contain 400 to 800 mg of benzene, 8 to 16 times the acceptable levels. 

If parked outdoors under the hot Indian sun, when the temperature is +40 degrees Celsius, the interior of the car would be around +60 degrees Celsius. You won’t be able to touch the plastic steering as it is too hot. The level of benzene odour released from the synthetic materials in a small confined space can go up to 2,000-4,000 mg per square foot. This is 40 to 80 times the acceptable levels.

So, next time you get into the car with your loved ones, please roll down the windows.

Happy motoring!