用猴子测试柴油车尾气 大众汽车再陷丑闻
Automaker Volkswagen has suspended a top executive in response to widespread public criticism over experiments in which monkeys were exposed to diesel exhaust. The company said in a statement Tuesday that Thomas Steg, head of government relations and sustainability, was stepping away from his duties at his own request. Steg had said in an interview published in the newspaper Bild that he had known about the experiment but did not inform the company's then-CEO, Martin Winterkorn. Steg said he rejected an initial proposal to use human volunteers and said that even after animals were substituted the experiment "should not have taken place." The move follows a report in The New York Times that the now-disbanded EUGT commissioned the 2014 monkey test at the Lovelace Respiratory Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to measure how Volkswagen's diesel technology was succeeding in controlling harmful emissions. 《纽约时报》的报道称,2014年进行的这项研究旨在为柴油车辩护,因为在那之前有人披露,柴油车尾气致癌。 据德新社报道,EUGT由大众、戴姆勒和宝马公司共同创立,其中大众是主要出资方。它的性质是游说组织,已于去年解散。 Diluted exhaust gases from a late-model Volkswagen vehicle were fed into chambers where the monkeys were exposed for four hours. Afterward, lung fluid samples were taken from the sedated monkeys, which were not killed for the experiment. The study did not deliver a definitive result. The test was done with a vehicle that used illegal software to cheat on emissions tests, turning controls off when the vehicle was not being tested. That practice was exposed in 2015, leading to Winterkorn's resignation. The Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute said in a statement that the tests were designed by EUGT and the lab itself was initially not aware the vehicle had been rigged. It said it complied with regulations for the treatment of lab animals and was committed to their humane and ethical treatment. The labs president and CEO, Robert W. Rubin, said in a statement that when the lab later learned that the vehicle engine had been modified to produce less pollution "we determined the study was compromised" and did not meet the standards for publication. 大众总部所在的德国下萨克森州州政府是大众公司大股东之一。下萨克森州州长、大众监事会成员斯特凡•魏尔说,监事会要求大众披露猴子试验的决策细节以及试验目的。魏尔称,“如果试验是为了研究车间内的安全和健康条件是否达标,并且遵照伦理标准进行,那么还说得过去。但如果试验是出于为市场和销售服务,那么我想不出一个可以接受的理由。” Volkswagen's current CEO, Matthias Mueller, said in the VW statement that "we are investigating in detail the work of EUGT, which was dissolved in 2017, and drawing the necessary conclusions." He said Steg "has declared that he takes full responsibility, and I respect that." "We will ensure that such things will not be repeated," board Chairman Hans Dieter Poetsch said. The company has said that rejects animal experiments and that "we apologize for the wrong behavior and bad decisions of individuals." Daimler and BMW condemned the experiment and said they were investigating. 当地时间29日,德国总理默克尔表态,谴责这种有争议的柴油污染物测试,并呼吁相关汽车企业对此事进行说明。 这是德国车企与尾气相关的又一桩丑闻。2015年9月,大众在美国被曝为部分柴油车安装尾气作弊软件,为氮氧化物排放数据造假以通过尾气测试。两年多来,大众为“排放门”善后需支付的罚金、赔款、维修费等各项金额估计达到300亿美元。戴姆勒去年7月卷入同样丑闻,在欧洲市场宣布召回逾300万辆梅赛德斯-奔驰柴油车。 |