By
EWAN KENNEDY
10 April 2006
Australia is famed for clean, fresh air and our climate is the envy
of many from around the world. Yet it’s not all good news. Whilst our
air is generally in excellent condition, Australian city air quality,
particularly in some of the tunnels that are springing down all around
us is pretty awful in places.
For some reason we all tend to forget
that air is keeping us alive and the better the condition the air’s
in, the healthier you are likely to be.
It’s not just air from outside the car
that’s a problem. Research has shown that the air inside a car can, in
extreme cases, be ten times dirtier than that outside. Internal sources
of bad air are many and varied; chemicals gradually escape from plastics
used in the interior, which creates what we often call the ‘new-car’
smell and is particularly bad in Australia because of the heat created
by summer sunshine. Smoking is obviously a further major cause of
in-cabin pollution.
From the outside world, your car sucks in
road grime, exhaust fumes, soot, smoke, pollen, spores and simply
everyday dust. It’s a nasty world out there.
Ryco is an Australian company and has
been famed for many decades for filtering fuel, oil and air for cars’
engines. It’s now also in the business of filtering the air that’s
coming into the cabin of your car to be distributed by the air
conditioning and heating system.
Many late-model cars are built to take a
cabin air filter, yet very few actually have them on board. Some
manufacturers, seeing the apparently good condition of Australian air,
are saving dollars by not installing a filter element. Others do fit
them but they eventually clog up and need to be replaced.
The car makers themselves can supply a
filter, or you can buy a Ryco one. Two type of cabin air filter are
offered: particle filters take out most of the pollutants; carbon
filters have even finer holes in their surfaces and can cope with
gaseous fumes and other noxious odours. Prices for particle filters
generally range from $15 to $55; carbon activated units cost about $20
to $65.
Some cabin air filters can be fitted by a
home handyperson in as little as two minutes, generally by gaining
access to them through the glovebox. Others need some underbonnet work
to get the back of the firewall and fitment/replacement may be better
done by a professional.
To find out whether your car is set up to
accept a filter and, if so, where it is located, try the owner’s
handbook, ring the manufacturer of the car, contact your local
automotive aftermarket supplier, or visit Ryco’s web site at
www.rycofilters.com.au/. The cabin-filter area within this web site was
still under construction as we went to press.
Ryco has joined with the Asthma
Foundations of Australia to promote the health benefits of its cabin air
filters and will make donations to the Foundations based on filters
sold. These donations will be used for awareness of asthma training as
well as providing information on how to avoid and/or minimise its
harmful effects.
