A Positively Moving Experience
Things Never to Leave in a Hot Car
As a matter of general rule, it’s absolutely necessary to never leave important stuff inside a car when it’s parked. Due to the Greenhouse effect, cars heat up rapidly even when it’s not extremely hot outside, exponentially – so the inside of cars can get even hotter than it is outdoors. Moving trucks are susceptible to this extreme heat increase, and due to the lengthy travel time some moving operations take, heat damage is a real risk. Here’s a list of six things never to leave inside a car as it heats up, as prepared by the experts at Noah’s Ark.
Pets
Never leave pets inside a car – this should be self explanatory, but if it’s any extra reminder, the American Veterinary Association has determined that inside only 60 minutes the interior of a car can exceed the temperature of outside the car by over 40 degrees.
Electronic Devices
Electronic devices aren’t designed to withstand extreme heat. The majority of electronic devices should never be exposed to temperatures that exceed 113 degrees – so never, ever leave a phone, tablet, laptop – or really any sensitive device that utilizes LCD and circuitry inside a car during the day.
Plastic Bottles
Plastic water bottles can leach out chemicals when exposed to heat due to their composition out of terephthalate and polyethylene – which in turn release antimony and bisphenol A – known as BPA. It’s safe to drink this chemical in low levels, but it does come across with potential health risks.
Cans of soda
Soda cans can explode when exposed to extreme heat, so if you happen to be in a very hot area, there’s a potential for soda cans to explode during the hottest parts of the day – especially if the soda cans have at all been shaken, dropped, rolled, or bumped around – which is highly likely if it’s been in the interior of a car.
Makeup
If you keep emergency makeup inside your car, think twice before leaving it inside. Lipstick and other stick based makeup can easily melt in the heat, and other forms of makeup can actually lose the efficacy of their active ingredients inside high heat, with their texture and color undergoing massive changes in tone and quality.
Sunblock
While sunblock is meant to protect your skin from the UV rays of the hot sun, sunblock, just like cosmetics, can suffer rapid degradation of active ingredients when exposed to heat, rendering it ineffective and pointless.
