Your Car Could be Killing You…
Quality filters have “Activated Carbon” which helps to filter out not only physical particles but also remove volatile organic compounds in the air.ย They trap gas molecules from ๐ฉ๐จ๐ข๐ฌ๐จ๐ง๐ข๐ง๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ!
โฃโฃ๐ช๐๐๐๐๐๐! ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐ฎ๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ซ๐๐ฉ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ฒ๐จ๐ฎ๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐ฐ๐ข๐ญ๐ก ๐ญ๐ก๐ ๐๐ก๐๐๐ฉ๐๐ฌ๐ญ ๐ฉ๐๐ฉ๐๐ซ ๐๐ข๐ฅ๐ญ๐๐ซ!
๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐!โฃโฃ
ACTIVATED CARBON
The SMELL
For those of us who commute to work, just think about every time you get in the car, you could be breathing in exhaust fumes and VOC gases on every trip.,
Do yourself a favor and opt for the carbon activated filter!.
Over time, the incoming gaseous pollutants have filled up all of the available adsorption sites on the activated carbon. cabin air filter.
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Once the filter is clogged any new incoming chemicals with a greater โaffinityโ for an adsorption site (i.e. the carbon) can displace those with lesser affinity (i.e. release dangerous gas into the cabin).โฃโฃ
Basically, once you smell the filter, you are breathing in VOC’s.
ADSORBTION
Yes, I said adsorption, not absorption. The problem with replacing your cabin filter with a basic, cheap paper replacement cabin air filter is that without activated carbon, it will do nothing to prevent not prevent volatile organic compounds (VOC).
Through a process called adsorption where the pollutants stick to the outside of the carbon., instead of inside the structure itself (like when water is soaked up by a sponge). โฃโฃ
DANGER
VOCs have been linked to chronic health conditions such as asthma, liver damage and central nervous system damage. Some are known or suspected carcinogens.
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Service Cycle Conundrum
Each vehicle’s HVAC system can differ in the recommended cycle for changing the cabin air filter. Since the proliferation of service plans, manufacturers have a bias that has influenced recommended service intervals at all levels. These modern day free maintenance plans and their bottom line have manufacturers stretching out service intervals on almost every service item, not just cabin filters. Where before, intervals were shorter to incentivize more frequent trips to the dealer, one might want to settle somewhere in between.
It is a contested area, where there are many threads discussing customers who have opted to pay out of pocket for oil changes that would have been considered additional and were in between their “free” maintenance plan covered oil changes.
Realistically, in some scenarios technology has advanced to a point where some items can last longer. For me, a fresh cabin air filter is peace of mind that my barrier against gases in teh air that can eventually kill me will at least be changed twice a year.
Once just before the summer and once just before the winter.
Thanks for reading.
Service Cycle Conundrum….. Part 2 Vehicle Choice
Not every vehicle is made equal. We know a VW Jetta is not supposed to be competing with a BMW 5 series sedan. They are not in the same class of vehicle by any means. One is an economy mid-sized sedan that was around 21K new and the other a luxury sports full sized sedan that was around 64K new. However the Jetta is a 2015 and the BMW a 2008…7 years apart.
The Jetta uses that filter in the picture above. Just that one filter is responsible for the filtration of the outside air you breathe.
The BMW, even though it is 7 years older in manufacturing, uses a two cabin air filter system, giving each filter it’s own access to fresh air. These are not small filters, each of the two cabin air filters is roughly the same surface area as the single cabin air filter setup used in the 2015 Jetta.
Conclusion:
I may need to consider changing the Jetta’s cabin air filter more regularly than the twice a year interval I was used to in the BMW in order to maintain the same level of “clean air” over time. I will keep an eye on it for now and check it in 3 months.