--- title: VW Emissions Scandal May Have Killed 60, Study Says description: Environmental study finds emissions could have helped cause 60 premature deaths in the U.S. alone canonical: https://time.com/4091437/premature-deaths-vw/ author: Justin Worland article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2015-10-29T15:36:27.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-08-04T07:57:19.328Z article:section: Science og:title: VW Emissions Cheating Scandal May Have Deadly Impact, Study Says og:description: Environmental study finds emissions could have helped cause 60 premature deaths in the U.S. alone og:url: https://time.com/4091437/premature-deaths-vw/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: VW Emissions Cheating Scandal May Have Deadly Impact, Study Says twitter:description: Environmental study finds emissions could have helped cause 60 premature deaths in the U.S. alone twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # VW Emissions Cheating Scandal May Have Deadly Impact, Study Says > Sponsored content. 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Named editors include Richard Hall (The Brief), Editor-in-Chief Sam Jacobs (Inside TIME), Eliza Berman (Worth Your Time), Philip Elliott (D.C. Brief), Justin Worland (Future Proof) and Harry Booth (In the Loop). Health Matters is written by TIME's health desk. #### How do I sign up for a TIME newsletter? Go to time.com/newsletters, choose the newsletters you want and enter your email address. There is no cost and no subscription requirement. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-network-2026q3/newsletters?i=12af9b7b-d6a4-4cb8-90f1-4079a3d74d4d&cr=time-nl-network-2026q3-v1) ## Video: Know Right Now: Volkswagen CEO Steps Down [Watch (HLS stream): Know Right Now: Volkswagen CEO Steps Down](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ILSL08Yq.m3u8) (1:00)  _Published 2015-09-18. VW announced that 11 million cars have devices that trick cars into emitting less smog during testing_  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Oct 29, 2015 3:36 PM UTC  by [Justin Worland](https://time.com/author/justin-worland/)  ## Justin Worland Senior Correspondent Oct 29, 2015 3:36 PM UTC Pollution from vehicles at the center of Volkswagen’s ongoing emissions scandal may have contributed to 60 premature deaths in the United States, according to new research. The new [study](http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/10/11/114005), published in the journal _Environmental Research Letters_, also suggests that as many as 130 additional people may die if the company doesn’t fix the problem by the end of 2016\. The emissions problem will also add nearly half a billion dollars in social costs, researchers found. In early September, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency revealed the car manufacturer had installed devices in its diesel vehicles that cheated emissions tests. The software, called a “defeat device,” triggered reduced emissions of the pollutant nitrogen oxide only when a Volkswagen vehicle was undergoing an emissions test. The vehicles would pass the government-mandated tests while actually emitting 40 times as much pollutants as the Clean Air Act permits. Volkswagen pushed back against the study’s claims in a [statement](http://news.health.com/2015/10/29/vw-emissions-scandal-may-cost-60-u-s-lives-study-claims/) to _Health_ magazine: “General allegations regarding links between \[nitrogen oxide\] emissions from these affected vehicles and specific health effects are unverified. We have received no confirmed reports that the emissions from such vehicles may cause any actual health problem.” Experts were careful to note that nitrogen oxide emissions from Volkswagen vehicles are one of a range of factors contributing to premature deaths. The harmful chemicals exacerbate problems caused by particulate matter, small solids and liquids that pollute the air, and are a risk factor for lung cancer and other cardiopulmonary ailments. People are significantly more vulnerable to the Volkswagen emissions in cities than in rural parts of the country, researchers found. Study author Steven Barrett, an associate professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, says that the results will help determine how the U.S. federal government may fine Volkswagen. “You want the fines to significantly exceed the level damage,” he said. ## Transcript [00:52] [ MUSIC ] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4091437/premature-deaths-vw/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4091437/premature-deaths-vw/"},"headline":"VW Emissions Cheating Scandal May Have Deadly Impact, Study Says","datePublished":"2015-10-29T15:36:27.000Z","dateModified":"2026-08-04T07:57:19.328Z","description":"Environmental study finds emissions could have helped cause 60 premature deaths in the U.S. alone","url":"https://time.com/4091437/premature-deaths-vw/","keywords":["Environment","Public Health"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Justin Worland","jobTitle":"Senior Correspondent","url":"https://time.com/author/justin-worland/"}],"articleSection":"Science","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/section/science/","name":"Science"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/tag/environment/","name":"Environment"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4091437/premature-deaths-vw/","name":"VW Emissions Cheating Scandal May Have Deadly Impact, Study Says"}}]},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"VideoObject","name":"Know Right Now: Volkswagen CEO Steps Down","description":"VW announced that 11 million cars have devices that trick cars into emitting less smog during testing","thumbnailUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/v2/media/ILSL08Yq/poster.jpg?width=720","uploadDate":"2015-09-18T18:06:01.000Z","contentUrl":"https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/ILSL08Yq.m3u8","embedUrl":"https://time.com/4091437/premature-deaths-vw/","duration":"PT1M","potentialAction":{"@type":"SeekToAction","target":"https://time.com/4091437/premature-deaths-vw/?jw_start={seek_to_second_number}","startOffset-input":"required name=seek_to_second_number"}}] ```