用猴子測試柴油車尾氣 大衆汽車再陷醜聞

Automaker Volkswagen has suspended a top executive in response to widespread public criticism over experiments in which monkeys were exposed to diesel exhaust.

汽車製造商大衆利用猴子進行柴油尾氣測試引發公衆廣泛批評，該公司爲此將一名高管停職。

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.

大衆30日發表聲明稱，該公司政府關係與可持續性負責人托馬斯.施特格主動要求離職。

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."

施特格在接受德國《圖片報》採訪時曾表示，他已經知曉此事，但並未通知大衆時任首席執行官馬丁.溫特科恩。施特格稱，他拒絕了以人類志願者爲試驗對象的最初方案，並稱即使後來用動物代替人類進行試驗“也是不可取的”。

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.

此前，《紐約時報》的一篇報道披露，現已解散的歐洲交通行業環境與健康研究集團（EUGT）曾委託位於新墨西哥州阿爾伯克基的洛夫萊斯呼吸研究所在2014年進行猴子試驗，以測試大衆柴油車技術是否成功控制有害氣體的排放。

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.

研究人員向房間裏釋放了一臺大衆新型汽車經稀釋後的尾氣，並讓猴子在房間裏呆上4小時。隨後，從注射了鎮靜劑的猴子身上提取肺液樣本，這些猴子並沒有在試驗中死去。該研究沒有得出明確的結果。

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 2015, leading to Winterkorn's resignation.

這次試驗中使用的車輛安裝了能夠在尾氣排放檢測中作弊的軟件，當車輛未被測試時，軟件會關閉控制裝置。這一做法在2015年遭曝光，導致溫特科恩辭職。

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.

洛夫萊斯呼吸研究所聲稱，試驗是由EUGT設計的，他們最初並沒有意識到車輛被操縱了。他們遵守了關於實驗動物的處理規定，並致力於讓它們受到人道的對待。

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.

該研究所總裁兼首席執行官羅伯特.W.魯賓在一份聲明中表示，他們後來瞭解到，爲減少污染這臺汽車的發動機已經被改進過，“我們認定研究結果受到影響”，不符合發表標準。

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."

大衆現任首席執行官馬提亞斯·米勒在30日的聲明中表示，“我們正在調查EUGT的工作，給出必要說法。該機構已經在2017年解散。”他還稱施特格“已經宣佈對此事負全責，我對此表示尊重。”

"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."

大衆董事會主席漢斯.迪特.波什稱：“我們將確保此類事件不會重演。”該公司已經表示拒絕動物實驗，並“爲錯誤的行爲以及個人的錯誤決定道歉。”

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

戴姆勒和寶馬譴責了這項試驗，稱他們正在進行調查。