Dangerous Gas in Car Air Conditioners is Causing Lung Cancer and Alzheimer’s Disease-Fiction!
Summary of eRumor:
This email says that air conditioners in 1985 to 1998 cars are dangerously toxic and are spewing a gas that is the leading cause of Alzheimer’s disease and lung cancer.
The Truth:
This story is filled with fiction and inaccuracies from top to bottom. The writer claims to be a researcher for “The American Motor Vehicle Safety Organization.” TruthOrFiction.com cannot find any such group. It claims that all air conditioners for all cars were ordered from a corporation called Akson Technologies Initiative. TruthOrFiction.com cannot find any such organization. Also, there is no single company that has made all air conditioners for all cars. The email claims that a flaw in the design of the air conditioners allowed carbon monoxide to leak into the guts of the air conditioning system and mix with freon gas to produce a toxic substance called Dichlorodifluorocarbonmonoxide.” An air conditioner expert tells TruthOrFiction.com that In auto air conditioners, the freon gas is inside a sealed system and cannot mix with carbon monoxide. Similarly, if the system with the freon inside is properly sealed, there would not be any toxic gas leaking anyway. Additionally, there is no such substance as “Dichlorodifluorocarbonmonoxide.” It’s a fabricated word. Anyone familiar with health risks of this alleged magnitude knows that the determination of whether there was any danger or correlation with lung cancer or Alzheimer’s disease would not be made by an auto company. It would be researched by health professionals and any findings of the significance alleged in this email would be front page news, not revealed by a poorly contrived email.
update 06/07/08