Is Your Car Making You Sick? Study Finds Contaminated Air Within Vehicles Can Put Law Enforcement Officers at Risk

• NCJ Number: 185433
• Journal: Law Enforcement Technology Volume: 27 Issue: 10 Dated: October 2000 Pages: 126-133
• Author(s): Michael Trunko
• Date Published: October 2000
• Length: 8 pages
• Publication Format: Article
• Publication Type: Report (Study/Research)
• Language: English
• Country: United States of America

Annotation

This article reviews the findings of a California study that found contaminated air within vehicles can put police officers at risk and then outlines the specifications for a vehicle air purification unit that can address such contamination.

Abstract

A recent study conducted by California's Air Resources Board and South Coast Air Quality Management District collected particulate data from inside vehicles and obtained real-time information under a range of traffic and driving conditions. The study's objectives were to measure the personal exposure of drivers and passengers to common motor vehicle pollutants in Los Angeles and Sacramento, two areas known to have high levels of motor vehicle-generated air pollution. The study found that the air people breathe inside a car is 2 to 10 times more polluted than the air outdoors. Pollution levels of several dangerous contaminants are at least twice as bad inside as outside a vehicle, and the levels of other contaminants are as much as 10 times worse. Another in-vehicle health threat comes from the air conditioner, which contain bacteria and fungi that can trigger headaches, nausea, allergies, and asthma attacks. The only effective way to prevent law enforcement personnel from being exposed to in-vehicle air pollution and potentially life-threatening passenger contamination is by installing a vehicle quality air-purification unit. To be effective, an air purification system must operate separately from the vehicle's air conditioning unit and must have a long-lasting filter; reduce hazardous gases, odors, irritants, pollen, road pitch, microscopic tire dust, and passenger contamination; and have the ability to capture tuberculosis bacteria. Airsopure, a subsidiary of Airtech International Corporation, offers an air purification system for vehicles called the S-999. This unit captures up to 99.97 percent of all contaminants.