Researchers found that in addition to the benefits of recirculation settings, exposures are lower in newer cars, at slower speeds and on arterial roads, where pollutant concentrations are lower than on freeways.
According to the researchers, concentrations of particle pollutants on freeways are often five to 10 times higher than elsewhere.
Recirculating the air in your car (when on the freeway) might give you a longevity boost too.
“Recirculation settings reduce in-vehicle particle pollution for very small particles [PM2.5] from 80 percent of on-road levels to 20 percent.”
So if you have a one hour commute in SF, the rough EV works out to +0.28 years of added life by using the recirculate setting.
See on news.usc.edu
