The NGO that brought to light the Vokswagen car swap scandal has warned of the health impact of diesel vehicles. Vehicles from the European Union, the United States, China, India, Australia, Brazil, Canada, Japan, Mexico, Russia and South Korea have measured the difference between the amount of polluting gases that they can legally emit and what they actually emit.

The results indicate that cars in these countries emitted 13.2 million tons of nitrogen oxides (NOx) in 2015 and 4.6 million tons were unaccounted for because they emit much less gas than normal in technical tests to measure pollution.

Nitrogen oxide causes cardiac and respiratory diseases. According to the results of the study, there were 38,000 more premature deaths in 2015 than expected due to these gases, 80% of them in the European Union, China and India. Overall, diesel NOx gases caused 107,600 premature deaths in the countries investigated.

The researchers warn that the problem will worsen unless stricter measures are put in place. If the trend remains the same in 2040, 184,000 people will die from gas pollutants. The problem could be largely solved by setting stricter emission limits and ensuring compliance with existing standards.