Diesel smog linked to 38,000 deaths

Vehicles 50% dirtier than manufacturers claim

DIESEL vehicles are more than 50 per cent dirtier than manufacturers say – leading to thousands of unreported deaths, a study has claimed.

The excess nitrogen oxide (NOx) pumped out by car exhausts can be linked to 38,000 premature deaths worldwide, scientists claim.

This is in addition to the 3.7million deaths caused by air pollution worldwide each year – 40,000 to 50,000 of which occur in the UK.

Researchers found diesel vehicles around the world produced 4.5million tons more NOx than they should do under international emission standards – and 52 per cent more than lab tests suggest. NOx damages lung tissue when breathed in, but also reacts with other chemicals in the atmosphere to produce harmful groundlevel ozone and ultra-fine particles.

Ozone irritates the airways and aggravates lung diseases, while inhaling fine particles is linked to heart disease.

The study by US researchers analysed data from 30 studies of vehicle emissions under real-world driving conditions around the world. It found that in 2015, diesel vehicles generated 13.1 million tons of NOx in 11 major vehicle markets. But had the emissions met the imposed testing standards, the amount would have been closer to 8.6 million tons, according to findings published in the journal Nature.

Heavy duty vehicles such as lorries and buses were the main culprits identified by the team, which included scien-

‘Serious consequences’

tists from the International Council on Clean Transportation.

The ICCT said reasons for the gap could range from shoddy maintenance, tampering by owners, deliberate use of ‘defeat devices’ and deficient tests. The impact was strongly felt in Europe, with 11,500 of 28,500 deaths each year attributed to diesel NOx pollution being linked to excess emissions.

Roy Harrison, a professor of environmental health at the University of Birmingham, said the study ‘highlights the serious consequences which have resulted directly from the irresponsible actions of... motor manufacturers’.