Toxic Interior?

[lizard]

I just purchased a 2008 Nissa Versa S Hatchback yesterday. I really love the car so far! Only one concern...I saw on healthycar.org that the 2007 Versa SL Hatchback was rated the car with the most "toxic" interior. Yikes! Has anyone else read about this? Any concerns? Has anyone heard about the interior of the S model? I tend to be a worry-wort so this was not good news!

[Jaesin]

It comes up here rather frequently, basically it comes down to the point where there's a certain chemical that's an estrogen replacement.

In all actualities there are worse offenders in both soy products (especially soy beans themselves) and other foods compared to the amount in a versa.

Nothing to worry about here.

[Vahagn23]

I read it, and i was all worried, but then the smell went away in less then a month, im still good

[equlizer]

The only thing I gotta put up with now is contact cement and glue from my sub box

Ill agree that the car smelled kinda funky for the first few weeks.

[KimberKenobi]

Okay, I wrote this back in April and I thought I had posted it on here, but I am posting it again.

~@~

And now... MY OPINION!!!!

I can't let it die... here's another thought(besides the reminder to beware anything with a sensational title)

I did some digging into the "HealthyCar.org" website (the basis for the article you read) and Versa stands thus:Door trim (soft) Lead: 24ppmExterior window seal Lead: 10ppmFront seat (front) Lead: 137ppmFront seat (rear) Lead: 0ppm (How can it have 137ppm on the front seat, but 0 on the back seat when they are made of the same materials... riddle me this - a difference, yes, a high line and a nothing... no)Steering wheel Lead: 29ppm

Now, US Consumer Product Safety Commission on toys... (you know, those things that kids chew on and handle excessively)

" CPSC staff screened the 12 products obtained for total lead and cadmium. In CPSC's experience, products containing less than 200 ppm lead and 100 ppm cadmium do not release appreciable amounts of dislodgeable or extractable metals, and would not be a lead or cadmium health hazard as a result of reasonably foreseeable consumer handling or use. Eight of the 12 products tested exhibited levels of lead above the screening levels (200 ppm lead and 100 ppm cadmium). "

I went back to HealthyCar.org and read their sampling methods... They specified that they tried to take samples in similar places in every car, but here is where there is a potential for error (even though they state the margin of error built into their detector, which is a whopping 68%...) they did not specify that they sampled more than once per area for each car or that they sampled multiple cars from each line (so likely they sampled only one Versa, and in only one place per itemized area...)Basically, that wouldn't fly in any peer-reviewed setting. There are anomalies in everything, even individuals off an assembly line. There are also anomalies in each individual... maybe they tested an area on one car's steering wheel that was particularly high for whatever reason, but the same spot on a competing car was particularly low... Basically, I'm saying the methods they expressed in their PDF are flawed (read as, that would never have flown for my undergraduate senior project... I would never have even dreamt of offering such methods).

There's my 2 cents...

[KimberKenobi]

Basically, their sampling method is flawed, the amount of error involved (not only in their methods but also in their detector) is astounding and I'm surprised they have the gall to publish results off of those numbers. Plus, they offer up no basis for comparison (such as a statement of the safety threshold of lead). They are offering up 'scientific fact' based on crack-pot logic and poor testing methods.

Most people take articles like this at face value... I have a Bachelor's of Science and spent an entire semester evaluating peer-review articles/methods and also articles like this. This article does not represent scientific research or fact and would never pass a peer-review board. Basically, all their results would be thrown out and their sampling methods would need to be redone and all their information gathered again. And I bet, you'd see widely different results.

I can't believe they posted any results taken from a piece of equipment with a 68% error... That's preposterous!

[lizard]

Thanks everyone for making me feel better! I choose the Versa over a tough decision with the Fit. I thought the Fit was more fun to drive, but the Versa just felt like it was made better. Since it was such a tough decision, I kept on wondering if I had made the right choice. Then when I found the healthycar.org website...I freaked out. I did not read all of the fine print in the article. So, again, thanks!

[KimberKenobi]

Always watch for 'scientific' stuff that has sensational titles... The fact that HealthyCar.org posted that the front seats have 137 ppm of lead and the rear seats have 0 ppm of lead should set everyone to scratching their heads and wondering how (especially the people who wrote the article based on these findings... shame on them!). We live in an era where the news we read and watch isn't as reliable as it used to or needs to be. It's a shame.

We are fed misinformation every day and that will never change. We've just got to plug on with what we 'know' and be open to learning that the basis for some of our most concrete ideas is wrong... and then have the strength to re-evaluate our ideas and change accordingly.

Wow... I'm very reflective and deep today... I should go write a poem...

[0wn3r]

What makes you believe the back seats HAVE to be the same as the front seats?

[Great White Versa]

What makes you believe the back seats HAVE to be the same as the front seats?

I don't believe that she was trying to say that they should get the exact same reading but that since they appear to be made from the same cloth and supported by the same foams they should at least get a similar result. You would expect there to be a small variation due to sampling and calculation errors, but nothing greater than a few percent.

[0wn3r]

I don't believe that she was trying to say that they should get the exact same reading but that since they appear to be made from the same cloth and supported by the same foams they should at least get a similar result. You would expect there to be a small variation due to sampling and calculation errors, but nothing greater than a few percent.

My theory is that front seats are made out of slightly different, perhaps stronger, materials in order to pass safety/collision tests whereas the rears are less important.

But I guess you could alwasy tear apart your seats and have them sent in for testing

p.s. good first user post

[audtatious]

I think the point is that they should not be "0" regardless of the material. I'm sure they are sourced from the same company as well so paint/cloth/metal should be the same even if some of the supporting foam is possibly different (and that conclusion is unknown as well).

[KimberKenobi]

basically, yes - the materials came from the same place. Plus, the way they tested, they did not take the seat apart, they just put their detector on the area and took a reading. So (essentially) the upper most layers are really what was being tested. I assure you, the seat cloth and foam are the same for the front seats and the back seats, so (while there may be a difference) there wouldn't be 137 (which is high) and zero (which is... umm... zero.).

All I was trying to say is that that right there should tell you that there is something going on in the testing method... which is why I read the site's testing method and found it to be completely useless. I will concede that they MAY have tested multiple parts of the vehicle and averaged, but their methods sound like they took one reading from each part of the car and only one car per model they were testing. That is too small of a sample. That would be like just one Versa driver putting up their mpg and stating that that is the mpg of a Nissan Versa. And if it was CodeRed that did so, we'd all feel great for getting higher mpg. And if it was XterraVersa that did so, we'd all wonder what was wrong with our cars...

[audtatious]

You are a girl. You have a car. Your car is blue car.

Thus, all girls have blue cars

[0wn3r]

You are a girl. You have a car. Your car is blue car.

Thus, all girls have blue cars

lol

well, write to them and tell them you feel their testing methods are inadequate because of what you saw. See what their response is.

[audtatious]

They probably would not care. They probably made some point they wanted

[KimberKenobi]

I sent a note to the site that posted the news story based on the HealthyCar.org research and they did not respond.

[boosteddet]

whoa.. the front seats are over 100ppm???

[BBISHOPPCM]

Why are we still using lead??? I thought lead was practically banned from all applications?

I should spray asbestos fibers into a Toyota Yaris that is about to be tested by HealthyCars.org... you watch, nothing will ever come of it, despite the test results showing that the Yaris has asbestos seat coverings!!!! I bet Toyota designed that car as a joke, just to see if people would actually buy them.

[KimberKenobi]

lead, mercury, cadmium are metals that are naturally occurring ... you can't just remove them permanently from the earth. you can only process and make products in a fashion which economically takes the amount of the metal down below the acceptable threshold.

The Threshold for lead is 200 ppm and don't take the HealthyCar.org results at face value for they use poor testing methods not only in sampling but in equipment.

I have said my peace.

[skwerl]

Wow... I'm very reflective and deep today... I should go write a poem...

!! Can you write me a poem but... make it about electric circuits? My crazy prof had this crazy idea that we can get extra marks... I realize you were feeling deep two days ago.

[KimberKenobi]

Skwerl... anything for you... let's see...

CircuitsCity of Lightsa fuse blew outbut not the bandcurrents to followelectricalin series or parrallela simple line, shared voltagemultiple circuits, full voltageso much to calculateinduction, resistance, capacitancethis is a crisis?no, not the bandrest your headin the city of lightsbright with currentsconveyed by circuitsbut not the band

does that suck too bad? ;oD

[drummernamedpat]

That is deep....I am going to rethink my outlook on life now....

Nice poem!

[skwerl]

That is amazing! Too bad she said it had to rhyme. Gave me some very nice ideas though. Best forum ever!

[BBISHOPPCM]

"Look here, Brother... Who you jivin' with them toxic car seats"

(Frank Zappa on toxic interior...)

[0wn3r]

Skwerl... anything for you... let's see...

does that suck too bad? ;oD

lmao that was awesome.

[skwerl]

Frank Zappa! :o

I guess this is off-topic. So um... I feel safe in my toxic interior regardless

[KimberKenobi]

lmao that was awesome.

I aim to please ;oD