Newly-decorated houses are often unsuitable to be lived immediately following decoration, since virulent gases can exceed safe parameters. However, polluted air within cars may be just as dangerous. For the first time, a safety standard monitoring the air quality within road vehicles will be set up.

On August 21, the State Environmental Protection Administration (SEPA) and the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) told the media that the new "Air Quality Standard Within Automobiles" is expected to be launched from this October.

The research and opinion-seeking phases on the standard have already been completed. After its October launch, consumers and car manufacturers will be able to rely on this law when investigating vehicles' internal air quality.

A source from the China Automobile Environment Committee, responsible for the establishment of the standard, disclosed that work on the "Air Quality Standard Within Automobiles" began two years ago. The original plan was to implement the stand at the end of last year but this launch was delayed due to legal wrangling.

The standard for air pollutants inside vehicles does not equate with the equivalent one for houses. Many technical problems exist in the establishment of the former standard for there are no existing similar standards to draw from. These problems include among others how to take accurate measurements and the filtration of the main pollutants. At present, consumers can only examine vehicle air quality according to the related standards of air quality for newly decorated houses. With the launch of the "Air Quality Standard Within Automobiles," the air quality in vehicles will be clear to consumers.

Prior to the standard's launch, many investigations of air pollutant inside vehicles have been conducted, the results of which show only one tenth of cars comply with the standard, at present.

Overall, 1,175 cars nationwide underwent tests covering all aspects of the standard, with only 52 vehicles, or 6.18 percent of those tested, passing the requirements. The Internal Air Monitoring Center under the National Interior Decoration Association examined 200 vehicles in Beijing, noticing that in 90 percent of cases, the quantity of formaldehyde or benzene in the air exceeded safe amounts. Worryingly, the quantity of formaldehyde in the air was five or six times the safe amount in most vehicles, with the situation in new cars being the worst.

It was also revealed that conditions within automobiles differ greatly from those inside houses. For example, the density of deleterious gases inside closed vehicles could potentially increase by several times after prolonged exposure to the sun, due to the volatilization of the deleterious material, while the same process is less likely to incur indoors, even at similar temperatures. The research staff revealed that the formaldehyde and volatile organic compounds (VOC) found in vehicles most often came from the glue used in the rugs, vehicle roof, seats and other decorations. Furthermore, the confined space inside vehicles, coupled with the airtight nature of most vehicles, restricts the quantity of air inside. Therefore, it is potentially more dangerous if noxious gases surpass safe levels inside vehicles.

In April 2004, Fengtai district court in Beijing threw out a lawsuit. The plaintiff claimed that the death from aplastic anemia had been caused by the benzene level in a Maturi Alto car, but there was not sufficient evidence to substantiate his claims.

The court also made a suggestion to the General Administration of Quality Supervision, Inspection and Quarantine (AQSIQ) that a standard on vehicle air quality be launched. The court also suggested that it should be a compulsory stipulation for the vehicle industry that vehicle air quality should meet the standard.

(China.org.cn by Li Xiaohua, August 23, 2006)