Volvo's 'Nose Team' Helps Cut Car Allergies

Filed in archive Other Allergies on April 24, 2007

I love the smell of a new car. I've heard there are even car fresheners available that are meant to approximate the smell of a brand new car. However there are people who break out upon getting into a brand new car. Puzzling, considering there's no dust or smoke to consider yet, eh?

Apparently, some people are allergic to the materials used in preparing the leather seats, for example. Volvo, which I featured in this blog last year, seems really committed to make cars as hypoallergenic as possible. Imagine this:

Swedish manufacturer Volvo has long put more effort than most into the contents of its car interiors.

It was the first to have a dedicated team working to eliminate nasty odors. Its 'nose team' consists of eight expert sniffers who are responsible for smell-testing every component in a Volvo interior.

Components are put into ovens and warmed to different temperatures to simulate the typical changes in cabin climate -- this is as relevant in warm cars during winter as it is for cars that have been standing in the summer sun.

Every member of the 'nose team' inhales and gives each component a score between one and six, where 'one' is unnoticeable and 'six' is overpowering. Nothing that scores more than 'three' will be approved for production.

See the full article and photo(!) at here: Cutting out the car allergies.