Ford may soon roll out an upgraded low-cost cabin air filter that can catch a wide range of harmful germs, allergens, and even viruses that can cause significant health problems.

Called the Ford MicronAir Protect, it’s developed by filtration experts Freudenberg. It rolls out in Europe first, with other markets to possibly follow.

Basically, the system consists of a two-layer air filter. The first consists of an activated carbon element that filters out particulates and harmful gases, while the second is made of a “secret recipe” that includes citric acid which protects against bacteria, yeast, fungi, and viruses.

The filter is capable of trapping particles as small as 0.05 microns—less than one thousandth the thickness of a human hair. When fitted to the vehicle’s ventilation system this can dilute the concentration of harmful particles entering the cabin and remove droplets containing viruses as quickly as possible, reducing the chance of further contamination and infection.

Ford says it’s proven to be 99.9 percent effective at inactivating viruses that come into contact with the special active layer. This includes Swine Flu and HCov-229E. Current conditions make it too dangerous to test the filter against SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 disease, but Freudenberg expects that it will achieve the same 99.9 percent effectiveness.

Ford says that vehicles in Europe like the Focus, Kuga, Mondeo, S-Max, and Galaxy are now available with the special filter, and can also be ordered for the Fiesta, Puma, and EcoSport as well. More models will follow suit at a later time.