Early last year, the Chinese government revised its national standards to lower the threshold of acceptable emission values in automotive interiors. Also known as Guobiao or GB standards, this regulatory system is frequently updated. These changes impact the global automobile industry as China represents the biggest automobile market in the world.
China’s new standards lower the acceptable level of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in a vehicle’s cabin. As a category of organic substances that are already volatile at room temperature, VOCs can come from construction materials, textiles, and adhesives. Since some VOCs have been linked to harmful health effects, they are not desirable indoors.
VOCs released by certain plasticizers and adhesives are also part of what is commonly referred to as the “new car smell,” which most Chinese car buyers find objectionable. In fact, unpleasant interior odors topped the list of complaints by Chinese car buyers for a second straight year in J.D. Power’s China Initial Quality Study – a concern that doesn’t rank among the top 20 complaints among U.S automobile consumers.
In an increasingly global marketplace, the automotive industry faces some steep challenges when it comes to environmental compliance management. For facilities and customers across the globe, China’s GB standards are only one of multiple sets of regulations that impact the design and engineering of automotive interiors.
