Your car’s air con may be poisoning you

♦ Experts have called for the regulation of car air conditioning systems after new trials revealed that popular models are letting in dangerous amounts of pollution.

Safety tests on 11 types of car have shown huge variation in the ability to purify incoming air, exposing those inside to poisonous particles.

The Toyota C-HR performed worst, blocking out just 1 per cent of pollutants, while the VW Polo managed only 35 per cent. However, the Mercedes E-class was able to purify 90 per cent of the incoming air.

Emission Analytics, the laboratory that carried out the tests, blamed the disparity on an absence of air filtration system regulations. Nick Molden, its chief executive, said employers of those driving as part of their work may be open to being sued. VW said its vehicles were fitted with multiple filters to remove particles and it intended to attach a particulate sensor to future models, while Toyota UK said it was not aware of pollution problems and found the results “surprising”.