VW diesel affair costs over 1000 lives
The increased nitrogen oxide emissions due to years of exhaust manipulation by the VW Group has serious consequences: 1240 people die prematurely from the exhaust fumes. Germany, Poland and France are particularly affected.
Deadly exhaust fumes: 60 people die prematurely in the U.S., and as many as 1,200 in Europe. The culprits are excessive nitrogen oxide emissions from manipulated diesel cars manufactured for years by the Volkswagen Group. This is the conclusion reached by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in its current investigation. The company admitted in September 2015 that it had deliberately modified software. More than 11 million diesel vehicles are affected by the manipulation.
500 dead in Germany
The MIT researchers evaluated the excessive emissions between 2008 and 2015. According to the study, Germany is the country most affected, with 500 deaths. Border regions, such as France, Poland and the Czech Republic, also have above-average numbers of premature deaths. "Air pollution doesn't stop at political borders," says study author Steven Barrett, professor of aeronautics and astronautics at MIT. "Therefore, one car on German roads can have significant impacts on neighboring countries."
The researchers believe that Volkswagen urgently needs to get a grip on the emissions problem. If all vehicles could be retrofitted by the end of 2017, there would be 2600 fewer premature deaths, or 29,000 fewer years of life, according to the calculations. The cost savings in the healthcare system would also be enormous. It would amount to 4.1 billion euros. That is far more than in the USA, which is not only due to the lower number of vehicles.
Lower risk in the USA
Diesel vehicles in Germany have an average annual mileage that is 20 percent higher than in the USA. The higher population density in Europe and climatic conditions also play a role. Nitrogen oxides also react with ammonia in the air. This creates particulate matter that enters the lungs. According to the MIT study, this risk is lower in the USA because the air there contains less ammonia. Ammonia enters the air primarily through fertilizing the fields.
At the end of October 2015, just a few months after the targeted emissions manipulations became known, MIT researchers had attributed 60 deaths in the U.S. to the software trickery. In addition to the 60 victims, another 130 people were expected to die at that time - not least because of the only gradual retrofitting of the affected vehicles.
Text: Press release/MIT
