There aren’t many people that don’t suffer from allergies in my family. My sister and niece have eczema, my brother reacts to certain animals and my oldest son and myself suffer from seasonal allergies. Minimizing exposure to allergens has always been something I care about. But I didn’t realize that about 30% of Canadians suffer from some form of allergic reaction.
I’ve tested out quite a few Ford Canada vehicles over the last year and while I appreciated the comfort and reliability of the vehicles, I didn’t realize that Ford engineers are also working hard to ensure that their vehicles are less likely to cause allergic reactions too! These are a few of the things Ford is doing to minimize the allergy risk:
- Ford has started requiring that more than 100 materials and components meet stringent standards to minimize potential allergy issues on the new Fusion and other Ford vehicles
- Engineers avoid materials such as latex, chrome and nickel (a metal that one in seven Canadian women are allergic to) that can cause allergic reactions
- Similar to a furnace filter in a house, cabin air filters in the 2013 Fusion and other new Ford vehicles prevent airborne particles such as dust, spores, fungus and pollen from entering the vehicle
In the words of Linda Schmalz, the supervisor of Core Material Engineering for Ford, “Allergies affect large numbers of people, so anything we can do to reduce potential allergens inside Ford vehicles we do through rigorous, controlled testing.”
Knowing that Ford is putting such detailed thought into the design of its vehicles is one of the reasons I have come to have so much respect for the company. It’s just one more thing Ford is doing to make sure that an entire family can ride in comfort and safety.