Air Quality of New Cars Released Last Year, Including Palisade and Sonata, All 'Pass'

[Asia Economy Reporter Chunhee Lee] The Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport announced on the 9th that all eight new car models manufactured and sold domestically last year met the indoor air quality standards for harmful substances such as formaldehyde and toluene.

Since 2011, the Ministry has been operating a system to evaluate and manage indoor air quality to reduce harmful substances emitted from materials and adhesives used in the interior of new cars. While some models exceeded the recommended toluene levels in 2011, all new cars have passed indoor air quality inspections since 2012.

The models surveyed this time include eight from four manufacturers: Hyundai's Sonata, Palisade, and Venue; Kia's Carnival, Soul, and Seltos; Renault Samsung's SM5; and Ssangyong's Korando C.

The current formaldehyde standard is 210㎍ (micrograms) per 1㎥. All vehicles tested ranged from 13.6 to 58.1㎍/㎥, passing the inspection. Ethylbenzene, with a standard of 1000㎍/㎥ or less, was measured between 7.1 and 40.2㎍/㎥ in all vehicles, well below the limit. Similarly, for toluene, which also has a 1000㎍/㎥ standard, the Kia Soul showed a somewhat higher level at 918.5㎍/㎥ compared to other models but did not exceed the standard.

In this survey, the evaluation substances were increased from seven to eight by adding acetaldehyde, following the revised "Indoor Air Quality Management Standards for Newly Manufactured Vehicles" enacted last year. Additionally, the measurement method was strengthened by increasing the time for sealing the vehicle and collecting samples from 2 hours to 16 hours, an eightfold increase.

For the newly added acetaldehyde, all tested vehicles showed levels between 7 and 83㎍/㎥, which is below the standard of 300㎍/㎥. Other harmful substances were also found to be below their respective standards.

A Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport official stated, “We will continue to manage the air quality of new cars so that the public can use new vehicles comfortably and safely, and the government and manufacturers will work together to ensure that cars that can be used with confidence are released.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.