The criticism of the exhaust tests of a research association of the car industry does not stop. Now the call is being made to put the proximity of the economy to scientific institutions to the test.
The SPD politician Klaus Barthel calls in the light of exhaust emissions tests with monkeys and people to take the proximity of the economy to scientific institutions more in focus. "We need a broad debate about the increasing influence of economic interests on research and teaching at universities. The tolerable level is far exceeded. This damages the reputation and credibility of science, "said the head of the SPD workers' wing to Handelsblatt.
The background to this is the study of monkeys that became known a few days ago by the European Research Association for Environment and Health in the Transport Sector (EUGT). Behind the EUGT, which was dissolved in 2017, were VW , Daimler and BMW . On Sunday it was also announced that the University of Aachen carried out tests with nitrogen dioxide on humans - also funded by the EUGT. The University Hospital pointed out that the study was unrelated to the diesel scandal and had been approved by the clinic's ethics committee.
Barthel explained that it was irrelevant whether the matter had anything to do with the diesel scandal. "Experiments with humans must meet the narrowest criteria," he said. "For me, it is unclear what the higher scientific interest should be in testing lowered limits." Limit values would normally be set according to previously developed scientific findings.
From the perspective of the Greens, the exhaust gas experiments continue to destroy confidence in the auto industry. "Ethics and morality were apparently sacrificed for profit," said the traffic expert of the Greens parliamentary group, Stephan Kühn, the Handelsblatt. "If there is a reason that the exhaust gas scandal can no longer remain without personnel consequences, it is these experiments on humans and animals." The exhaust gas tests showed that the diesel scandal was far from being cleared up. "I expect the automakers to immediately put all the information about the exhaust gas experiments on the table," says Kühn.
The Bundestag commission of inquiry into the VW diesel scandal, the exhaust gas tests on animals according to information of the Handelsblatt have been known for some time. Already at its meeting on September 8, 2016, a well-known toxicologist has repeatedly reported that there have been appropriate tests. None of the informed politicians has taken offense, however. This emerges from the stenographic record of the session.
Chancellor Angela Merkel (CDU) had sharply criticized the pollutant tests on Monday and demanded clarification. "These tests on monkeys or even humans are ethically in any way to justify," said government spokesman Steffen Seibert.
VW Supervisory Board Chairman Hans Dieter Pötsch said: "In the name of the entire Supervisory Board, I dissociate myself with all emphasis of such practices." The events must be "unreservedly and completely cleared up". Lower Saxony's prime minister Stephan Weil demanded comprehensive information, works council chief Bernd Osterloh demanded personal consequences.
The managing Minister of Transport Christian Schmidt (CSU) said that the manufacturers concerned were invited to a special meeting of the Commission of Inquiry of the Ministry of Transport to the exhaust gas scandal and should inform there immediately and in detail.
The auto expert Ferdinand Dudenhöffer also demanded more transparency and information from the car makers and their VDA association about the events. "If it were indeed so that animal experiments were made to sell the clean diesel in the US that would be absurd, doltish and stupid," said Dudenhöffer the Handelsblatt. "If the assumptions were confirmed by human experiments, that would be outrageous." The now dissolved by the industry supported "research institution" EUGT appeared to him "very dubious". So it needs education.
Dudenhöffer pointed to the consequences for the auto industry, which more than two years after the announcement of the diesel manipulations still had to deal with new allegations. "It almost seems like a never ending story," he said. This would damage the public's and customers' confidence in the industry "very much". "And that's exactly what the industry needs to gain the public's confidence in new major innovation topics such as autonomous driving."
Autoverband is at a distance
The suspicion that humans had been experimented with had emerged from a report by the lobby institute EUGT, which was reported by the "Stuttgarter Zeitung" and "Süddeutsche Zeitung".
However, the accusatory director of the institute Thomas Kraus of the University of Aachen opposed this accusation: a corresponding study does not deal with the diesel pollution of humans. The 2013 study - long before the VW diesel scandal became known - focused on nitrogen dioxide levels in the workplace, he told dpa. Twenty-five healthy people were exposed to concentrations below the workplace exposure. The Ethics Committee of the University of Aachen tested and approved the study published in 2016. Even Volkswagen denied a connection with the diesel affair.
Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is the pollutant whose measurements have been manipulated by VW in the US for years to officially comply with the legal limits for diesel vehicles. Animal testing in the test of diesel exhaust fumes that had become known through US investigations into the VW exhaust foul had caused outrage. Ten monkeys, more specifically jay monkeys or long-tailed macaques, were specifically exposed to pollutants.
Kraus explained that the NO2 concentration for the Aachen study was comparable to that in the environment. The subjects were exposed to this concentration for three hours, there were no health effects. "There is no connection with the diesel scandal," he emphasized. However, the European Research Association for Environment and Health in the Transport Sector (EUGT), founded by the concerns VW, Daimler and BMW , promoted the study. The researchers were "influenced in no way," said Kraus.
Already at the weekend, Volkswagen had apologized for the experiments with monkeys. The tests should prove that the diesel pollutant load has declined sharply thanks to modern exhaust gas purification. Commissioned by EUGT, this study was said to have been carried out by VW.
VW chief inspector Pötsch announced that the supervisory board would deal soon with the topic. "Whosoever has to bear responsibility for this, of course, has to be held to account." Weil described the experiments as "absurd and disgusting" - this is even more true, if it had come to experiments on people.
The Association of the Automotive Industry (VDA) condemned the pollutant tests: "Once again shows: technology and science must in principle be within the socially and ethically responsible," said VDA President Matthias Wissmann. This is a constant task for every industry. "Without an ethical foundation you will not win a future."
Even Daimler distanced itself from the studies and EUGT. "We are shaken by the extent of the studies and their implementation," it said in a statement. Daimler condemns the experiments in the strongest terms. "Even though Daimler had no influence on the experimental setup, we initiated a comprehensive investigation into how this could happen."
BMW stated that it had not participated in the studies mentioned. "We immediately started an internal investigation to clarify the work and background of the EUGT carefully," said the carmaker. This also includes a comprehensive and factual comparison of the study methodology with comparable scientific investigations.