After the heavy “Diesel Gate” scandal, a new, very dangerous Hurricane hits the German automotive industry. The accusations that this time rain on Volkswagen, Daimler and BMW are very heavy. The three automakers allegedly tested the exhaust emissions of diesel cars as well as on monkeys, even on human guinea pigs, that is, healthy people who were made to inhale nitrogen dioxide to study the effects on the respiratory system and on blood circulation.
While the news referring to experiments conducted on monkeys had already circulated at the end of last week, today two German newspapers, including the "Suddeutsche Zeitung", report similar experiments carried out on humans. The German government spoke of "unjustifiable" actions. Steffen Seibert, the spokesman for the Chancellor, Angela Merkel, said that "the experiments have no ethical or scientific justification and pose questions to all those responsible". "Car manufacturers must try to reduce emissions and not pretend to prove they are not harmful with the help of experiments with monkeys and even humans," he said.
The New York Times had already reported tests carried out on behalf of the three German companies and the Bosch electronic components group on monkeys.
These dangerous experiments, which make us think more of a science fiction film than a shameful reality, would have been carried out in 2014 in the Lovelace biomedical laboratory in Alburqueque, New Mexico (USA) under the commission of a European body specialized in the protection of health in the sector. of transport, the European Association for the Study of Health and the Environment Transport (Eugt with its German acronym), founded by the 4 German groups. A senior Volkswagen executive, currently detained in the United States over the manipulated emissions data scandal, would personally bring a 'beetle' to the lab. Experiments with car emissions were conducted in a small house where 10 monkeys had been confined.
The new news about human involvement in the experiments that appeared in two German newspapers, "Stuttgarger Zeitung" and "Suddeutsche Zeitung", is that the EUGT also commissioned a test in which nitrogen dioxide (NO2) was inhaled precisely to human guinea pigs.
The people involved in this experimentation would be 19 men and 6 women.
The aim of this insane project was to demonstrate that, with technical progress, diesel engine emissions had no major impact on citizens' health. Twenty-five people were examined at an institution at the Aachen University Hospital who were given nitrogen dioxide at different concentrations for several hours each evening. According to the EUGT, which coincidentally was dissolved in 25, in conjunction with the checks carried out in the aforementioned Diesel Gate vein, no effect of these exhaust substances on the health of the humans involved in the tests was found. Nitrogen dioxide is the pollutant whose measurements were manipulated by Volkswagen in the US for years to officially comply with legal limits for diesel vehicles. The prime minister of the federal state of Lower Saxony (northern Germany), Stephan Weil, called the experiments "absurd". Lower Saxony has a stake in Volkswagen, so Weil, as prime minister, sits on the consortium's supervisory board. Already last Friday, Daimler and BMW had distanced themselves from the experiments, ensuring that their cars were not involved in the experiments. Volkswagen has "clearly distanced itself from any form of animal abuse". “We are convinced that the scientific method chosen at that time was wrong. It would have been better to give up on such an investigation from the start, ”the group said Saturday in reference to the animal experiments. "We apologize for the misconduct and misjudgment of the people." "We are dismayed", added a spokesperson for Daimler, "at the extent and management of the studies". Even the subsidiary Mercedes "strongly condemned the experiments". So far the only one not to pronounce has been BMW.
The fact is that Volkswagen, the largest car manufacturer in the world, would have carried out on 25 human beings tests on the consequences of the inhalation of toxic nitric oxide as well as contributing to the financing of 10 experiments on monkeys in the 2014.
The German government, according to the voice of the Minister of Transport, Christian Schmidt, "strongly condemns" an initiative that has "once again damaged confidence in the automotive industry".
Obviously, German Chancellor Angela Merkel also condemned the tests carried out with humans and monkeys to verify the consequences of harmful emissions from cars, and in this regard, she asked for immediate clarification. "These tests with monkeys and even humans are not ethically justifiable in any way," Chancellery spokesman Steffen Seibert said this morning in Berlin. "The indignation of many people is absolutely understandable," reports the German weekly Focus.
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