movie about animal testing smoking chimpanzee

We’ve forgotten how big a controversy this was, but it caused such an outcry that it ended up in a joke at the German auto industry’s expense in an episode of The Simpsons.

The university suspended the use of pre-adolescent cadavers in 1989, but was still using adult cadavers at the time. In 1993, the German newspaper Bild revealed that Heidelberg University had been using cadavers in automotive crash testing since the 1970s to that day.Īpproximately 200 human cadavers - including the bodies of children - had been used in those decades. The only way to understand the forces of a car crash on the human body was to load one inside and run the car into a wall.įew in their right mind would’ve agreed to such an endeavor (More on that in a minute.) Scientists at Wayne State used the next best thing: human bodies without a pulse or any sense of danger.Ĭadavers bequeathed to the university were subjected to testing that included being pushed down elevator shafts and hurtled toward fixed objects to learn more about the horrendous damage a crash could cause.Ĭadaver testing was from the 1930s, though, right? No. Michigan’s Wayne State University was the first entity to seriously look at how automotive crashes affected the human body. Anthropomorphic Test Devices (Crash Test Dummies, in other words) and the science of biomechanics were long in the future. A lot of this has to be viewed through the lens of time, but it’s no less disturbing: Since the beginning of concerns about safety and the environment, auto manufacturers have used animals, and in some cases, human beings as test subjects. With a lawsuit in progress, the details of who knew what are sure to be revealed in the coming months. They might not have known exactly how the experiment was carried out, but somewhere along the way a decision was made to fund a group that was conducting testing on animals. It doesn’t sound like the automakers knew about the animal testing that happened as a result of the study, but they’re of course going to deny any knowledge of something so ridiculous. See the end of this article for an idea of what auto manufacturers have done in terms of animal testing.Īs for the EUGT, that organization was dissolved last year. They all condemn the use of animals in any kind of testing and are quick to state they do not do any kind of animal testing. The EUGT received its funding from Volkswagen, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz, but the automakers are denying they knew anything about the monkeys. Now it’s all about figuring out who knew what and, unsurprisingly, no one knew anything about the monkeys as though the animals just wandered by the lab and decided to start sucking down diesel fumes. This whole thing is coming to light through a lawsuit filed in the U.S. The group never produced a final report, but here’s a guess: Breathing hydrocarbons probably isn’t good for you or monkeys.

If that wasn’t bad enough - and that is pretty bad - the Beetle in question had one of the defeat devices so any results from the study would have been flawed. The study involved 10 monkeys forced to inhale diesel fumes from a Volkswagen Beetle. The EUGT then turned to the Lovelace Respiratory Research Institute in New Mexico, which then came up with the idea of testing diesel fumes by sticking monkeys inside airtight rooms where they were forced to breath the stuff. The automaker commissioned the European Research Group on Environment and Health in the Transport Sector (EUGT) in what was a study they hoped would defend diesel. It’s a rather long chain that leads to these poor monkeys. Looking for a new or used Volkswagen? Check out BestRide’s listings search here. You can’t test on humans, so the study tested hapless monkeys instead. This was part of an effort in 2014 to prove diesel fumes aren’t as nasty as everyone thinks. This time, it’s because the automaker tested the danger of diesel fumes on monkeys. Volkswagen, which was famously in big trouble for rigging its diesel vehicles to pass emissions tests, is now in trouble over its diesels once again. It is beyond ridiculous that this is a real story and not a satire.

Movie about animal testing smoking chimpanzee