Is It Safe to Keep Perfume in the Car During Summer?
4 Answers
Keeping perfume in the car during summer is not safe, as it may cause an explosion. Types of car perfumes: Car perfumes can generally be divided into three types: liquid, solid, and spray. Solid perfumes are inexpensive and come in cute and diverse designs, making them popular among young car owners. Effects of car perfumes: High-quality car perfumes have long-lasting fragrances and can kill bacteria. However, if chosen improperly, under the heat dissipation conditions of the air conditioning, they can not only affect the mood of people in the car but also harm their health. Hazards of car perfumes: If low-quality perfumes are used, they may not only fail to improve air pollution inside the car but could also worsen it. Low-quality perfumes contain excessive amounts of alcohol and fragrance, which can cause dizziness, nausea, and other adverse effects on the human body.
I've experienced a car perfume bottle explosion before, and I absolutely don't recommend leaving it in the car during summer. Since perfume contains a high alcohol content and summer car temperatures can exceed 60°C, the alcohol vapor expands and can cause the bottle to explode. Once, a colleague's car had glass shards all over the dashboard because of this, making cleanup extremely troublesome. Moreover, spilled perfume can corrode plastic interiors and leather seats, leaving permanent stains. High temperatures can also cause the perfume's chemical composition to deteriorate, emitting a pungent odor. I recommend switching to solid air fresheners clipped to the air vents or taking the perfume bottle with you after parking. This ensures safety and prevents vehicle damage.
As someone who drives to work every day, I find car perfumes particularly unreliable. After the car is exposed to the scorching sun in summer, it becomes like a steamer. Not only can the perfume bottle easily crack under high temperatures, but the alcohol content inside is also flammable, which could potentially cause a fire if it comes into contact with sparks from the cigarette lighter. Once, I left a perfume in the cup holder, and it leaked, corroding the electronic parking brake button and rendering it unusable. Now, I regularly clean the air conditioning ducts to eliminate odors or place activated charcoal packets in the armrest box to absorb smells, which is much safer than using perfumes. If you really want to freshen the air, opening the windows for ventilation or using the air conditioning's external circulation is actually the most effective.
From a chemical perspective, this is quite dangerous. Perfumes typically contain ethanol, fragrance compounds, and stabilizers, which can evaporate rapidly at high temperatures, producing high-concentration vapors. Inhaling excessive amounts in an enclosed car cabin may cause headaches and nausea, especially harmful for children and pregnant women. Once, my little niece got carsick and vomited due to overly strong perfume scent in the car. I recommend purchasing some natural essential oil diffuser pads to place in the sun visor slot, or using lidded solid perfume containers. Remember to use sunshades to reduce interior temperature when parked—safety always comes first.
