Was Volkswagen the First to Test Exhaust Fumes on Monkeys? Your Questions Answered.
The car industry-funded research outraged the public and even has some researchers wondering how it was approved.
For four hours at a time, 10 crab-eating macaques sat inside airtight chambers watching cartoons while researchers piped in diluted exhaust from a new Volkswagen Beetle. A few weeks later the monkeys were back in the chambers, this time breathing in exhaust from an older Ford F-250. The monkeys were taking part in an experiment in the United States commissioned by German automakers in 2014, the details of which came to light in a New York Times story last week.
The aim of the tests, carried out by the New Mexico-based Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute, was to prove that more sophisticated filter technology had lessened the harmful effects of diesel engine exhaust, which was designated a cancer-causing pollutant by
