Have you received not too pleasant comments from your passengers recently about the smell in your car. Before deciding on how you can be rid of it, perhaps it is better to understand what is causing the smell.

What is the problem?

Car air conditioning systems draw air from outside the vehicle and re-circulate it. The air that is drawn in might contain exhaust fumes and other contaminants. When the air in a car is totally re-circulated, toxic levels can build up in a matter of minutes.

"New car smell" is caused by VOCs or volatile organic compounds, which leach from the various components in a car. They are known to cause health problems, including cancer.

Steps that you can take to reduce the health hazards in your car include:

• don't store cleaning and grooming aids in your vehicle
• install air con filters and have your air con checked regularly

But perhaps the most direct way is to fight it with in-car pollution formula. Recently the Iogenic, a popular formula used in Mitsubishi Grandis, has come up with an improved formula.

How can IOGENIC help?

IOGENIC does the following for your car;
- it neutralizes VOCs,
- kills bacteria & viruses
- and deodorizes.

With the IOGENIC treatment, car interiors and air con ducts are coated with nano-titanium and nano-silver particles. These produce Active Oxygen which breaks VOCs into harmless gases.

Does it really work?

SETSCO, one of Singapore's largest independent test labs, concluded that IOGENIC works. It kills bacteria while neutralizing exhaust gases, cigarette smoke, ammonia, nitrogen and sulfur oxides at the same time.

IOGENIC comes with a free re-treatment within a five year period and costs $850.