Is your car a toxic trap?

Research shows that dirty car interiors are breeding grounds for hostile bacteria

Many of us treat our cars like second homes, but with one major difference — we wouldn’t let our homes get that filthy. Decomposing food under seats, dirty pets sharing space with groceries, small children doing ‘what small children do’. Unwittingly, we’re turning the insides of our cars into breeding grounds for all kinds of unsavoury bacteria, and in some cases we’re opening ourselves up to serious risk. 

In our video feature, Dr Anthony Hilton gets inside some of Britain’s commonest types of cars and examines them in microbiological detail. He and his team at Aston University took samples from the areas inside our cars that are most often used or handled—steering wheels, gear sticks, rear seats—and subjected them to rigorous microscopic examination. What they found wasn’t pretty; in one case even discovering traces of the E-coli virus.

Cleaning the car might seem like a pain, but once you’ve witnessed Dr Hilton’s fascinating exposé of its unwanted hidden passengers, you might well be inclined to think again about giving it a quick once over with an antibacterial wipe or two. If it keeps your children safe it’s got to be worth it.

Click here to video video