Many of Portugal’s drivers are removing diesel particulate filters from their vehicles which are still passing government inspections.
To save on replacing expensive parts and on fuel consumption, motorists are allowing polluting particles into the atmosphere with a consequent impact on air quality and health.
Since 2009, all diesel cars registered in Portugal must have a diesel particlulate filter (DPF) that can trap a high percentage of exhaust emissions, but many car owners have used information freely available on the internet for instructions on how to remove the filter.
Other motorists have relied on garages to remove the filters, despite this being illegal. On many vehicles the DPF are hard to access, and hence hard to spot if one has been removed.
The weekly, the National Association of Automobile Inspection Centers said there is there is no effective way, without taking some cars apart, of verifying the existence of the filter. The testing centres check the vehicle emissions and if the level is below that required by law, the vehicle passes the test whether there is a filter on not.
By not bothering with a or DPF a motorist can save about €500 every two years. To get one taken off can cost between €300 and €600.
The Institute for Mobility and Transport says it is not aware of this practice and said that any violation would be detected by the emissions testing equipment used in car inspection centres.
But experts accuse the authorities of ignoring the problem despite the emitted particles PM10 and PM2.5 being harmful to health by increasing the risk of respiratory, cardiovascular and cancer diseases.
The general secretary of the Portugal garage owners’ association, Neves da Silva, said he knows of a few cases where diesel particulate filters have been removed in workshops but these are isolated cases. Neves admitted though that the association intends to ‘sensitise the sector’ and tell mechanics to follow the law.
