VW hid failed diesel exhaust tests on Monkeys

VW Diesel exhaust tests on monkeys were never supposed to come to light. The final report on VW exhaust fume tests with monkeys was not published. BILD is in possession of the 58-page secret lab report (study number: FY15-050).

The report shows how the monkeys were made to suffer – and, most of all, how the report was supposed to be rewritten, because the results were too devastating for the car industry.

Human and animal tests of diesel car exhaust exposure were commissioned by an organization funded by VW, Daimler and BMW, the European Research Group on Environment and Health in the Transport Sector (EUGT), which has since been disbanded.

The US study using monkeys was meant to show that the diesel exhaust fumes from a VW Beetle were cleaner than those from an older Ford pickup.

Ten macaques were put in glass cages at Lovelace Laboratory, Albuquerque (US), on 4 May 2015 at 6:34 am. For four hours, they were made to inhale diesel fumes on behalf of EUGT – a research association of Volkswagen, BMW, and Daimler. Exhaust fumes from a Ford pickup (build year 1997) and a VW Beetle (2013) were then fed into the monkeys’ cages. Meanwhile, the animals were shown cartoons to calm them down. At 11:20 am, 1:40 pm, and 3:10 pm, blood was taken from the animals. A special endoscope was then inserted into their windpipes and bronchia through their noses or mouths. The researchers noted that the animals were “stressed” due to the frequent and violent examinations.

The Beetle was running a cheating software (defeat device) that ensured emissions on the dynamometer with up to 40 times less nitric oxide than on the street.

It said some of the monkeys that had inhaled VW fumes showed a higher degree of inflammation than other animals.

The animals that were made to inhale the new diesel showed more signs of inflammation than the monkeys that inhaled the old diesel.” This is the exact opposite of what the car manufacturers wanted the study to show.

In 2015, VW admitted it had manipulated 11 million diesel cars worldwide, equipping them with cheating software to make them seem less polluting in the lab than they were on the road.