“Valuing the Human Health Damage Caused by the Fraud of Volkswagen”, Rik Oldenkamp, Rosalie van Zelm, Mark A. J. Huijbregts2016-05 (economics)⁠:

Recently it became known that Volkswagen Group has been cheating with emission tests for diesel engines over the last 6 years, resulting in on-road emissions vastly exceeding legal standards for nitrogen oxides in Europe and the United States.

Here, we provide an estimate of the public health consequences caused by this fraud. 2009^–₆2015, ~9 million fraudulent Volkswagen cars, as sold in Europe and the US, emitted a cumulative amount of 526,000 tonnes of nitrogen oxides more than was legally allowed.

These fraudulent emissions are associated with 45 thousand disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and a value of life lost of at least 39 billion US dollars, which is ~5.3× larger than the $9.13^$7.3₂₀₁₆ billion that Volkswagen Group has set aside to cover worldwide costs related to the diesel emissions scandal.