World's first TÜV allergy seal for the Ford Focus C-MAX
Cabin air filter from Freudenberg Nonwovens wins accolade for its high performance
Weinheim, 6 April 2004 - The family van Ford Focus C-MAX is the first vehicle in the world to be awarded the new "Allergy-Tested Interior" seal of approval from the TÜV Rhineland Group. The TÜV's experts confirm not only the special care exercised in choosing the material, but above all the high performance capabilities of the integrated cabin air filter. The micronAir product used, from the automotive component supplier Freudenberg Nonwovens, Weinheim, Germany, is highly effective in arresting allergens and pollutants, protecting the occupants against allergic reactions. The filter specialist works closely together with automakers like Ford, and gets involved in new vehicle design right from the planning stage.
High-performance cabin air filter
The new TÜV seal of approval offers drivers suffering from allergies a useful guideline in choosing a vehicle. On behalf of the TÜV Rhineland Group, chemists and dermatologists examined the compatibility of more than 100 materials used. During the tests, they did not find any allergic reactions giving cause for concern. To evaluate the pollen filter, the TÜV's experts utilized the extremely small mulberry pollens. These are not found in Germany itself, but are only half the size of the pollens which are in fact dangerous for the nation's allergy-sufferers, and are therefore particularly suitable for filter testing. The result: Freudenberg's cabin air filter arrests 97 percent of the mulberry pollens. An analysis of the air inside the vehicle, too, showed that the filter meets the stringent requirements stipulated for the TÜV's seal of approval. The data measured in the Ford Focus C-MAX were lower than many of the guidelines and limit values laid down by the German Federal Environment Agency and the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment. Even the values for benzene and phenol, for which the TÜV's experts reduced by half the relevant recommendations for air inside the vehicle from German and European institutions, satisfy the criteria applied.
Role of cabin air filters underestimated
According to a study commissioned by the German equivalent of the Automobile Association, the accident risk in road traffic for people allergic to pollens is up to 30 percent higher. Sneezing fits and streaming eyes severely impair performance and reactions. So it's hardly surprising that according to the statistics most accidents are caused in May, when the blossoms flower. Medical specialists estimate that nowadays one in three Germans is suffering from an allergy. Medication, it is true, can alleviate the allergy symptoms, but a cabin air filter prevents a large number of pollens from even reaching the passenger compartment via the ventilation system. However, most drivers underestimate what an important role the filter plays. "Not nearly enough people know how important the cabin air filter is for allergy sufferers' health and safety on the road", says Andrea Wallrafen of the German Allergy and Asthma Federation.
However, cabin air filters offer effective protection against pollens only if they are replaced at regular intervals. A current VDI guideline covering hygiene and maintenance requirements for ventilation and air treatment systems in passenger cars was defined in February 2004 by the Association of German Engineers. Freudenberg was the only filter manufacturer represented on the committee concerned, and with its comprehensive expertise helped to formulate the guideline.
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