by Tammy Williams
VehicleMD Staff Writer
Originally published in Winter 2009 Issue

Next time you get in your car and turn on the air conditioner or heater, take a deep breath. What do you smell? Is it fresh and clean, or does it smell a little musty? If your answer is the latter, you may have some silent invaders—mold and mildew—hiding in your car.

Mold and mildew spores are everywhere. They are constantly flying through the air, but it isn’t until they find a damp, dark place to grow that they become a problem. One place they love to grow is in your car’s heating/cooling/air conditioning (HVAC) evaporator box. This evaporator and heater core is the area where the air from your A/C and heater blows out through the vehicle’s interior vents.

Whether it is cold outside or warm, the air that enters your car’s passenger cabin comes through the evaporator and heater core, and the air that resides in this area is generally moist and warm—an ideal breeding ground for mold and mildew.

If you smell a musty or moldy smell when your heater or air conditioner is turned on, that is a telltale sign of mold and mildew growth. These moldy and musty odors are waste products given off by actively growing molds—and a good sign it’s time to do something about their infestation.

An A/C odor elimination service allows your service technician to eliminate the harmful mold and mildew—as well as their unpleasant odors—built up in your evaporator. This service only takes about 20 minutes, and it can be performed at the same time your technician is changing your oil, adding little to no time to your vehicle’s service.

“When you think of the fact that the air you breathe inside a vehicle can be as much as five times worse than the air outside, using this service to eliminate the hazardous mold and mildew coming from within the evaporator box can greatly help any vehicle’s interior to be a healthy one,” said Kristen Clark, marketing manager for International Lubricants, Inc.

This particular service provides instant benefits that you can actually smell. One benefit is, of course, the clean, fresh scent coming from the vents. Another, perhaps more important benefit, is that the service reduces allergens and organic toxins from entering the interior of your vehicle’s cabin.

The A/C odor elimination service eliminates odors that air fresheners can’t. It also reduces allergens and contaminants in your vehicle’s cabin, improving air quality and making it a healthier place for you and your family.

Why are mold and mildew so dangerous? Oftentimes they are dangerous because people don’t realize it is mold and mildew causing their symptoms—these pesky invaders can seem almost invisible at times. Most health problems caused by mold involve the spores getting into your lungs. Stuffiness or a runny nose may be the sign of a mold allergy, along with shortness of breath, coughing or wheezing. In more severe cases, exposure to mold may cause headaches, fevers or skin rashes in some people.

Mold may make people who do not suffer from asthma have asthma-like symptoms, and for those who do suffer from asthma, mold can aggravate their symptoms and even bring on severe attacks. Mildew is a fungus that is often mistaken for mold because they both grow in the same environments and, for the most part, cause many of the same health problems. When mildew spores are breathed in through the nose they may cause sneezing or nasal drip, or even lead to a sinus infection. If mildew spores are breathed in through the lungs, they could start to irritate, resulting in coughing and wheezing. Excess mildew spores could lead to an upper respiratory infection, especially in people with allergies or a disease that weakens the lungs.

If you suffer from any of the aforementioned symptoms when you get in your vehicle, there’s a good chance it is the mold or mildew in your HVAC system causing your symptoms. An A/C odor elimination service would be a start to terminating mold and mildew, and help you start feeling better. If you don’t suffer from these symptoms, but simply want to keep your family safe and healthy—with an added benefit of a vehicle that smells clean and fresh—an A/C odor elimination service is your best choice.

Remember, it’s not the moldy, musty smell itself that could be the problem. It’s the mold or mildew behind the smell that could be threatening the health of you and your family.