In politics and in the medical Profession is growing criticism of the limit values for nitrogen oxide and fine dust, which in some German cities, driving bans for cars with Euro-4 engines and later for those with Euro-5 engines. The lower Saxony CDU called on the Federal government to an interdisciplinary scientific Commission to convene, whose task should it be a new “Toxicological evaluation of the existing limit values for nitrogen oxide”. Also the baden-württemberg group Chairman Wolfgang Reinhart (CDU) calls to examine the “sense of limits”. The Federal government should be active at a European level.
Rüdiger, they
Political correspondent in the state of Baden-Württemberg.
F. A. Z.
“Chancellor Angela Merkel has made last October, already the suggestion that driving bans are disproportionate, where the limit value for nitrogen oxide to less than ten micro-grams per cubic meter of air is exceeded. An Amendment to the Federal Immission control act has been announced and aims to be absolutely in the right direction,“ said Reinhart, in an interview with FAZ.NET. In Parallel must be checked the validity of the current limits on “any case”. Necessary also a Review of the measurement is, as Reinhart. In Greece will be measured on the roof and in Stuttgart the edge of the road. “This is absolutely disproportionate.”
“Until we have scientific clarity”
The debate on nitrogen oxide limits and driving bans could be in the course of the week even more intense, because a group of lung specialists and researchers on Wednesday a signature list wants to introduce, with the help of leading pulmonologists the Review of the limits demand. The Initiator of the signature collection Dieter Köhler, the former President of the German society for pneumology and respiratory medicine (DGP). He has already contacted weeks ago about 3000 DGP-members and now wants to present on Wednesday the results of the colleague survey.
The main allegation of the scientist is that in the mostly epidemiological studies of mortality and morbidity due to high nitrogen oxide and particulate load, the diseases and deaths in urban as well as rural regions are only compared in the review. In addition, pathogenic factors such as alcohol consumption, lack of exercise, or the social situation would be weighted incorrectly and is too low. “These studies are pure mathematical models. Any sensible researcher may believe these studies to be plausible. I hope that from a scientific now a political issue,“ said Köhler FAZ.NET. The lung specialist had criticized the lack of scientific Basis of the nitrogen oxide limits in September, in a much acclaimed publication in the “Deutsche ärzteblatt”.