The Hidden Dangers Of That New Car Smell Everyone Knows

When you purchase a new car from your local dealership, the very first thing you'll probably notice is that distinctive smell wafting from the interior when you plop down in the driver's seat. That's the distinctive "new-car smell," a mysterious scent profile emanating from new vehicles for decades. It's difficult to nail down what it actually smells like, but it's like a metallic, perfumy scent. However you'd describe it, many drivers find it rather pleasant, even employing sprays or air fresheners to bring it back once it fades.

While that new car smell is a nifty little sensory bonus that comes with your new vehicle, though, there are a few things about that distinctive odor that you should be aware of. After all, in any other situation, getting a massive nostril full of a mysterious odor would be a mildly disconcerting experience. Just because we have a name for the new car smell doesn't tell us what the smell is and, more importantly, what it's doing.

The scent we call new car smell is actually a result of a phenomenon called "off-gassing." All things give off perceptible smells, be it natural or artificial. In the latter case specifically, though, artificial things like paint, treated metal, or certain fabrics gradually shed their chemical coatings in the form of fine particles you inhale. So basically, off-gassing, at least in this context, is when you inhale the scents emitted from your own products.

New car smell is a combination of multiple off-gassing instances from the various components of your new car, which have yet to shed their coatings, treatments completely, and what have you. This includes things like polish on the dash, treatments on fabric, leather seats, newly-installed air conditioning filters, and every other aspect of your car's cabin that default people haven't yet overwritten smell. It all comes together into a big chemical odor cocktail known as the new car smell.

Chemical odors can be hazardous to your health –- that's why you're not supposed to stand next to a wall of drying paint, for instance. For new car smells, automotive companies wouldn't use any chemicals or treatments that aren't FDA-approved, but different smells hit people differently. Depending on your personal constitution, a new car smell could cause various deleterious effects, including, but not limited to, skin irritation, nausea, breathing difficulties, and nose and throat irritation. Because a car cabin is a sealed environment, if you're vulnerable to the chemical odors that your car emits, you'll be hit with side effects hard and fast, and if you're out on the road, the dangers are clear.

Even if you enjoy the new car smell, basking in it for too long is not a great idea, even if you're not feeling any immediate side effects. This is why, when you buy a new car, you should make sure to air it out a bit. Drive with the windows down, crank up the air, and try not to spend too long in the cabin until the smell starts to fade. Once you've put some mileage on your car, the smell will start to fade, and any weird side effects should gradually stop.