Diesel vehicles emit too many oxides of nitrogen. By exceeding the authorized thresholds, they are the cause of 38,000 premature deaths worldwide, in 2015 alone.
Long considered clean, diesel vehicles are now at the heart of concerns. The “diesel gate” revealed the cheating systems developed by the manufacturers. Engines built according to this system are much more polluting than advertised. A study published in Nature should not reassure worried souls since this scandal. It figures for the first time the mortality directly attributable to diesel.
11,500 deaths in Europe
38,000 premature deaths: this is the load attributable to diesel vehicles – heavy and light vehicles combined. To arrive at this figure, the International Council for Clean Transport (ICCT) looked at road traffic in the 11 largest markets, including the European Union.
A large proportion of diesel vehicles do not comply with nitrogen oxides (NOx) regulations. And the health of the population suffers. “In Europe, annual ozone-related mortality would be 10% lower if diesel vehicles met nitrogen oxide emission standards,” says Susan Anenberg, first author of the study.
In the Old Continent alone, 11,500 deaths were caused by NOx in 2015. The European Union is distinguished by the dominant weight of private cars. More numerous on the market, they have sometimes benefited from tax incentives. In France, the purchase of such vehicles is more financially attractive, but this should soon end.
1.6 million victims in France
In fact, a third of heavy goods vehicles in circulation emit more NOx than authorized, just like a quarter of light vehicles (cars, vans, vans). They thus release more than 13 million tonnes of nitrogen dioxide. That is 4.6 million more than estimated in the laboratory.
The culprit of these errors is clear. Current tests do not take real traffic conditions into account. As a result, they underestimate real emissions by 50%.
If more precise methods were adopted, there would be 70% fewer polluting cars on the world’s roads. However, in France, 1.6 million people are exposed daily to excessive thresholds of nitrogen oxides.
The math is simple. If nothing changes, the gas risks causing 183,000 premature deaths by 2040. “Excessive NOx emissions by diesel fuel affect the development of crops and many human pathologies”, summarizes Chris Malley. The field of the diseases concerned is wide. Long-term exposure to nitrogen oxides is associated with the emergence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), myocardial infarction or even lung cancer.
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