Citizens' Coalition for 10 Years of Automobile Driving Reveals Lifestyle Rules for Reducing In-Car Pollution

Koreans spend about five years of their lives in cars. Considering the average commute and driving distance, we cannot ignore pollutants such as ultrafine dust and bacteria.

The Citizens' Coalition for 10 Years of Automobile Driving recently released three automobile maintenance methods to prevent bacterial infections related to the COVID-19 virus that is spreading worldwide.

If you stay in a car for a long time without ventilation, the car interior environment can threaten the driver's health, so we introduce ▲ car interior management methods such as ▲ steering wheel and gear knob ▲ car mask and air conditioner filter ▲ seats and floor mats.


The areas with the most contamination are the steering wheel and gear knob.
The COVID-19 infection prevention guidelines emphasize washing your hands under running water for at least 30 seconds.

In general, drivers tend to think that their car steering wheel is clean as long as it is not touched by other people, so they rarely make up their mind to maintain hygiene.

You can enjoy excellent cleaning effects by wiping the finger-touching parts of the handle that are heavily contaminated with disposable tissues or hand sanitizer. The gear knob and dashboard are also places that are touched the most by hands and can cause secondary contamination, so they should be kept clean in the same way.


Car masks and air conditioner filters linked to breathing
To protect our bodies from car germs, it is necessary to keep the air conditioning system, air conditioner filter, and vents that make up the internal air environment clean.

Car filters, such as air conditioner filters that filter outside air, must be regularly maintained.

The car filter is where bacteria are concentrated, with 850 types of bacteria per 1㎠ of filter size. If you directly inhale the heater wind coming out of a contaminated filter, you may suffer from various viruses and allergic diseases.

Filters are usually replaced periodically every 6 months or 10,000 km of driving, but they should be checked every season and replaced without delay if contaminated. For filters that function as masks for people, certified products, manufacturer parts, and antibacterial filters should be used.


Sheets and floor mats that are easy for bacteria to breed on
Leather and fabric seats can easily become contaminated with mold and bacteria due to human sweat, dead skin cells, and moisture. Various types of dust and bacteria stuck on the driver's seat floor mat can circulate as a source of contamination inside the car.

Before getting in the car, shake off the dirt and dust from your shoes once or twice, and if the fine dust level is good, ventilate the car every hour.

In addition, once a month, clean the areas that come into contact with a lot of things while driving with a professional cleaning product, and also carefully manage the non-contact areas. In the case of floor mats, care must be taken to prevent contaminants and fine dust that get caught in the soles of shoes from accumulating.


According to data released in the UK, the level of contamination on car steering wheels is nine times that of a household toilet, and the Korea Transportation Safety Authority announced that in vehicle interior bacteria tests released, if the vehicle is poorly managed or heavily contaminated, levels up to 26 times that of a toilet can be detected.

An official from the Citizens' Movement Coalition for 10-Year Automobile Driving said, "You can reduce bacterial contamination by just wiping the steering wheel, gear lever, and air vents with a wet tissue before driving," adding, "Drivers think their car is clean and feel good just by having the automatic car wash vacuum when they go to the gas station, but they should not overlook the fact that the inside of the car can become a hotbed of bacteria."