It turns out that new car smell you know and love may be bad for your health. All the different materials associated with the production of car interiors (such as metals, plastics, and resins, among others) can host a concoction of chemicals that one source says may lead to “cancer, birth defects, impaired learning and liver toxicity”. The Ecology Center, a non-profit organization and a big part of the website HealthyStuff.org, decided to take matters into their own hands and see how many different kinds of chemicals could be found in cars. On top of that, they also went on to determine the best and worst of chemical offenders from the 2011 and 2012 models.

Shockingly, the Ecology Center found that more than 275 toxic chemicals could be found in car interiors, including bromine and chlorine-based mixtures that make cars less flammable and durable, respectively. So, if these chemicals can be linked to health problems such as cancer, why are they in your car? The problem is that the industry does not regulate the amount of toxins they inject into their materials, which is why the Ecology Center created the project in the first place. A research director, Jeff Gearhart from the Ecology Center, stated that, “Since these chemicals are not regulated, consumers have no way of knowing the dangers they face. Our testing is intended to expose those dangers and encourage manufacturers to use safer alternatives”.

However, since the study began in 2006, the Ecology Center has noticed the industry making drastic improvements in keeping consumer health in mind. Polyvinyl chloride (also labeled PVC) is usually an ingredient in interior objects such as windshields and fabrics. It has also been linked to thyroid cancer. Before 2006, there were no cars on the market that sold PVC-free interiors. Now in the year 2012, 17% of cars have PVC-free interiors and even more – a whopping 60% – are now bromine free.

With that said, the worst offender of 2011 was the Mitsubishi Outlander Sport, which ranked on the high end of the toxic scale. The Outlander had bromine-based seats, leather materials that were chromium-treated, and it even incorporated lead into the seat materials. Inversely, the least toxic car of the year goes to the 2012 Honda Civic. The Civic is both PVC and bromine free – in addition to minimizing the use of heavy metals in its design – making it the “winner” of the Ecology Center’s list.