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.

汽车制造商大众利用猴子进行柴油尾气测试引发公众广泛批评，该公司为此将一名高管停职。

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.

大众30日发表声明称，该公司政府关系与可持续性负责人托马斯•施特格主动要求离职。

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."

施特格在接受德国《图片报》采访时曾表示，他已经知晓此事，但并未通知大众时任首席执行官马丁•温特科恩。施特格称，他拒绝了以人类志愿者为试验对象的最初方案，并称即使后来用动物代替人类进行试验“也是不可取的”。

The move follows a report in The New York Times that the now-disbanded EUGT commissioned the 2017 monkey test at the Lovelace Respiratory Institute in Albuquerque, New Mexico, to measure how Volkswagen's diesel technology was succeeding in controlling harmful emissions.

此前，《纽约时报》的一篇报道披露，现已解散的欧洲交通行业环境与健康研究集团（EUGT）曾委托位于新墨西哥州阿尔伯克基的洛夫莱斯呼吸研究所在2017年进行猴子试验，以测试大众柴油车技术是否成功控制有害气体的排放。

《纽约时报》的报道称，2017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.

研究人员向房间里释放了一台大众新型汽车经稀释后的尾气，并让猴子在房间里呆上4小时。随后，从注射了镇静剂的猴子身上提取肺液样本，这些猴子并没有在试验中死去。该研究没有得出明确的结果。

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 2017, leading to Winterkorn's resignation.

这次试验中使用的车辆安装了能够在尾气排放检测中作弊的软件，当车辆未被测试时，软件会关闭控制装置。这一做法在2017年遭曝光，导致温特科恩辞职。

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.

洛夫莱斯呼吸研究所声称，试验是由EUGT设计的，他们最初并没有意识到车辆被操纵了。他们遵守了关于实验动物的处理规定，并致力于让它们受到人道的对待。

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.

该研究所总裁兼首席执行官罗伯特•W•鲁宾在一份声明中表示，他们后来了解到，为减少污染这台汽车的发动机已经被改进过，“我们认定研究结果受到影响”，不符合发表标准。

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."

大众现任首席执行官马提亚斯·米勒在30日的声明中表示，“我们正在调查EUGT的工作，给出必要说法。该机构已经在2017年解散。”他还称施特格“已经宣布对此事负全责，我对此表示尊重。”

"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."

大众董事会主席汉斯•迪特•波什称：“我们将确保此类事件不会重演。”该公司已经表示拒绝动物实验，并“为错误的行为以及个人的错误决定道歉。”

Daimler and BMW condemned the experiment and said they were investigating.

戴姆勒和宝马谴责了这项试验，称他们正在进行调查。

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。2017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。