The frightening parallels between VW's benzene scandal and Degewo's asbestos affair
An internal VW audit report from the year 2022 causes a stir. HeadlinesBenzene levels of up to 159.1 micrograms per cubic metre of indoor air were measured in the Grand California - the UBA guideline value is 4.5 micrograms. These values are 35 times higher than recommended. The carcinogenic substance vapours from the GRP high roof into the interior, where families sleep, eat and spend their leisure time.
What VW concealed from its customers is fatally reminiscent of the behaviour of the state-owned Berlin housing association Degewo in dealing with asbestos. In both cases, the companies had known about the danger for years - and deliberately chose to keep their customers in the dark.
VW: "Costs and time pressure" more important than health
The history of the VW scandal reads like a textbook on corporate failure. According to the confidential Group audit report from June 2022, VW has known about the problems since February 2018: "Since February 2018, various laboratory measurements have been available that show repeated exceedances of VW specifications."
Why did VW bring the car onto the market anyway? The answer from the internal auditors is frighteningly honest: "Cost and time pressure. The vehicle was supposed to be on sale for the 2019 camping season."
The consequences for buyers were devastating:
- Headaches and burning eyes
- Nausea, especially in children
- Metallic taste in the mouth
- Respiratory problems
Particularly critical: VW only reduced the pollutants after complaints from dealers by sealing the GRP roofs from May 2022 - there was no active customer information or recall.
Degewo: Decades of concealment of the asbestos hazard
The parallels with Degewo are striking. For decades, tenants of state-owned Degewo flats have been kept in the dark about the lurking asbestos hazard in their own homes. Around 17,000 flats are suspected of containing asbestos.
What is particularly outrageous is that the Berlin Regional Court found that Degewo, as a professional landlord, should have informed its tenants at the latest in 1993 - the year of the asbestos ban. Instead, Degewo only began informing its tenants in 2013, 20 years later.
One affected tenant reports a particularly perfidious case: Degewo authorised him to renovate his flat - without informing him of the asbestos hazard. While drilling, sanding and renovating, he unknowingly exposed himself and his family to the carcinogenic fibres.
The role of Frank Bielka: one man, two scandals?
The role of Frank Bielka (SPD). As State Secretary in 2000, he saw no need to inform tenants about possible asbestos hazards. He later became head of Degewo himself.
The chronology is disturbing:
- 2000: As State Secretary, Bielka trivialises the asbestos hazard
- 2003: The "Bielka case" shakes Berlin because of self-enrichment
- Klaus Wowereit (SPD) ensured that Bielka lost his pension entitlements as a "civil servant"
- Degewo compensates for these lost claims - financed by rent payments, including from asbestos victims
The strategy of cover-up: a pattern?
Both VW and Degewo followed a similar pattern:
1. knowledge, but silence
- VW: knowledge since 2018, sales start 2019
- Degewo: Knowledge since 1993 at the latest, information only since 2013
2. trivialisation instead of clarification
- VW: "If you feel unwell, ventilate the vehicle"
- Degewo: "don't drill any holes in the wall, then you can live in it well"
3. no recalls, no proactive information
- VW: No recall despite 35-fold benzene exceedance
- Degewo: No systematic information for existing tenants
4. legal dodges
- VW: "There are no legal requirements for vehicle homologation"
- Degewo: Cites lack of legal obligation to provide information
The human cost
Both scandals involve carcinogenic substances: at VW it is benzene with levels 35 times too high, at Degewo it is asbestos fibres. VW customers lived in their campers for years and were exposed to benzene - particularly critical in the upper sleeping cabin, where children usually sleep.
In the case of asbestos, the consequences only become apparent after 30-50 years. In Germany, around 1,700 people officially die from the effects of asbestos every year; the number of unreported cases is estimated at 15,000.
The time lag between exposure and possible illness makes it difficult to provide evidence in both cases. While the long-term consequences of exposure to benzene at VW are not yet foreseeable, asbestos-related illnesses are currently at their peak - people who renovated in the 1980s are now falling ill.
The legal consequences
Both cases show blatant violations of applicable law:
Product Safety ActEnvironmental law expert Martin Führ clarifies: "Accordingly, a manufacturer may only place products on the market that do not pose a health risk."
Traffic safety obligationAccording to the court, Degewo is in breach of its road safety, protection and due diligence obligations.
The role of the supervisory authorities: Looking the other way as a system?
The authorities also fail in both cases:
- The Braunschweig Trade Supervisory Office, responsible for VW, remains silent about its test results
- Berlin authorities have been looking the other way at Degewo for decades
Nevertheless, the Braunschweig public prosecutor's office confirms that it is investigating the VW case. At Degewo, on the other hand, the Berlin public prosecutor's office apparently sees no public interest in the investigation.
What do we learn from this?
The parallels between the VW scandal and the Degewo affair are no coincidence. They reveal a systemic problem:
- Profit before healthWhether camping season or rental income - economic interests dominate
- Information asymmetry as a weapon: Companies deliberately use their knowledge against their customers
- Failure of the authorities: Supervisory authorities do not fulfil their protective function
- No personal responsibilityManagers remain mostly unchallenged
Demands for the future
We need to prevent such scandals in the future:
- Stricter information obligations: Companies must inform immediately if they become aware of health hazards
- Personal liability: Managers must be personally liable for deliberate concealment of risks
- Independent controlsAuthorities must be better equipped in terms of personnel and funding
- Whistleblower protectionThe VW managers who acted as whistleblowers were "silenced" according to their complaint
Conclusion: A pattern of irresponsibility
Whether benzene in luxury campers or asbestos in council flats - the mechanisms are the same. Large companies, be they private like VW or state-owned like the Degewosystematically put their economic interests above the health of their customers.
The victims are always the weakest: families with children who go on holiday in a supposedly safe camper. Tenants who holiday with written authorisation from the landlord renovate their home. They were all deliberately exposed to a hazard that could cause lasting damage to their health.
It is high time that those responsible at both VW and Degewo were called to account. Because both cases make one thing abundantly clear: without massive public pressure and legal consequences, corporations will continue to jeopardise the health of their customers - whether out of "cost and time pressure" or out of pure indifference.
Those affected have a right to information, compensation and, above all, that such scandals are not repeated. This requires more than just warm words and ventilation recommendations. A fundamental change in corporate culture is needed - at VW as well as at Degewo.
Source: Pollutants in camper vans - Did VW ignore warnings? | frontal
If you are affected yourself: Both VW customers and Degewo tenants may be entitled to compensation. Seek legal advice and document all health complaints.