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Finished product · Transport

Petrol car

One midsize petrol car of 1,385 kg

This page shows what the product is made of and where each figure comes from. It does not show a death toll. The toll is calculated from this list of materials, and will be published only once it has a range and the model has passed its test on past years.

A midsize internal-combustion sedan, the average of three high-market-share US models measured part by part in the A2Mac1 teardown dataset and published by Argonne for the GREET vehicle cycle. 1,385 kg: 862 kg of steel, 177 kg of aluminium, 210 kg of plastic. Production only — the fuel it burns for a decade is not here, and for a car that is most of its toll (Phase E).

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The human cost, per item

One item is one midsize petrol car of 1,385 kg. Scenario Evidence-weighted, using FIGARO 2023. Each figure is the middle result of 2,000 runs of the calculation, with the range that holds nine in ten of them beside it, and the grade that range earns.

Deaths

1.1 × 10⁻⁶ per item(0.74–1.8 × 10⁻⁶)LOWS-EVID · run 2193 · methodology v0.1 · data dv-20261007-44r

Deaths per item: the rangeThe range that holds nine in ten of the runs, on a scale where each step is ten times the last: 0.74–1.8 × 10⁻⁶. The dot is the middle result; a figure graded indicative has none.10⁻⁷10⁻⁶10⁻⁵

The product’s list of materials traces 75% of its weight to raw materials the model knows. The rest carries no harm in this method, which is why this method gives a floor.

Injuries

7.8 × 10⁻⁶ per item(0.60–1.1 × 10⁻⁵)LOWS-EVID · run 2193 · methodology v0.1 · data dv-20261007-44r

Injuries per item: the rangeThe range that holds nine in ten of the runs, on a scale where each step is ten times the last: 0.60–1.1 × 10⁻⁵. The dot is the middle result; a figure graded indicative has none.10⁻⁶10⁻⁵10⁻⁴

The product’s list of materials traces 75% of its weight to raw materials the model knows. The rest carries no harm in this method, which is why this method gives a floor.

Deaths and injuries at work in these figures come from the 53 countries that reported work deaths and the 52 that reported work injuries for 2023.

Harm at work is counted as each country reports it to the UN’s labour statistics (ILOSTAT), and never estimated for a country that did not report: such a country is missing from that year, not counted as zero. So when two years’ figures differ, part of the difference can be a change in which countries reported. The model’s own year-to-year checks compare only countries that reported in both years.

Deaths: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Rep., Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritius, Moldova, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkiye, Turkmenistan, United States, Uzbekistan

Injuries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritius, Moldova, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkiye, Turkmenistan, United States, Uzbekistan

The money method — per €1,000 spent

Two methods, never added together. The materials method counts only what the product’s list of materials reaches, so it is a floor. The money method counts the whole supply chain of the industry for each euro spent, so in principle it misses nothing — but it cannot see what this particular product is made of.

In human terms

One death for every 560,000 – 1.4 million items.

By the money method, about €630 million – €1.4 billion of spending in its industry for each death.

Rounded so that it stays within the range, so the sentence never claims more than the range does.

Under each scenario

Five answers to how much of the harm counted in a place is linked to its economy. Same product, same year, same trade table: only the rule for linking harm to the economy changes.

Deaths per item under each scenarioEach line is one scenario’s range, on a scale where each step is ten times the last; the dot is its middle result.10⁻⁷10⁻⁶10⁻⁵10⁻⁴S-MAXEconomic-embeddedS-EVIDEvidence-weightedS-RESResource-onlyS-ARMSArms and resourcesS-CONSConservative

Where it comes from

By raw material — the materials method

By raw material — the materials methodEach bar is one contributor’s share of the deaths in this figure; the rest is grouped last.Coal and lignite — 56%Coal and lignite56%Copper — 43%Copper43%Iron ore — 1.4%Iron ore1.4%Bauxite — 0.36%Bauxite0.36%Silica sand — <0.1%Silica sand<0.1%

By industry — the money method

By industry — the money methodEach bar is one contributor’s share of the deaths in this figure; the rest is grouped last.Mining and quarrying — 47%Mining and quarrying47%Manufacture of basic metals — 24%Manufacture of basic metals24%Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers — 5.8%Manufacture of motor vehicles…5.8%Land transport and transport via pipelines — 5.6%Land transport and transport …5.6%Water transport — 3.8%Water transport3.8%Warehousing and support activities for transportation — 2.4%Warehousing and support activ…2.4%Air transport — 1.5%Air transport1.5%Wholesale trade, except of motor vehicles and motorcycles — 1.4%Wholesale trade, except of mo…1.4%Everything else — 8.2%Everything else8.2%

Where the harm was counted

Where the harm was countedEach dot is a country, placed at its capital, sized by its share of the deaths in this figure.Ukraine 55%Mexico 29%Congo, Dem. Rep. 13%Turkiye — 0.89%Poland — 0.44%Russian Federation — 0.38%United States — 0.26%Canada — 0.16%Australia — 0.13%Colombia — <0.1%Mongolia — <0.1%Greece — <0.1%Spain — <0.1%Germany — <0.1%Czechia — <0.1%Moldova — <0.1%Bulgaria — <0.1%Korea, Rep. — <0.1%Italy — <0.1%France — <0.1%Slovak Republic — <0.1%Japan — <0.1%Thailand — <0.1%Georgia — <0.1%Netherlands — <0.1%Romania — <0.1%Austria — <0.1%Uzbekistan — <0.1%Argentina — <0.1%Norway — <0.1%
Each circle is a country, at its capital, sized by its share of the deaths in this figure. The largest are named; point at or tap any other circle to see its name.
Every material, in full
By raw material — the materials method
MaterialShareDeaths per item
Coal and lignite 56%6.3 × 10⁻⁷
Copper 43%4.9 × 10⁻⁷
Iron ore 1.4%1.6 × 10⁻⁸
Bauxite 0.36%4.2 × 10⁻⁹
Silica sand <0.1%9.3 × 10⁻¹⁰

The chain, step by step

The largest step at each stage of the model. Each links to the full account, where every stage adds up to the headline figure.

  1. Petrol car
  2. Coal and lignite 56% of the figure
  3. Ukraine 55% of the figure
  4. Conflict and political violence 97% of the figure
  5. Russia - Ukraine 55% of the figure

The full breakdown →

Sources behind this figure

Every data file that went into this figure in this calculation, with the credit its licence asks for.

What this figure is not

Production phase only. Harm from using the product — driving the car, charging the phone — is not in this figure.

How to read these numbers →

Beside the most similar products

The two products whose deaths per kilogram are closest to this one’s, by the materials method.

Cite this figure

HumanToll 2026, run 2193, methodology v0.1. https://quiescence.eu/humantoll/product/petrol-car/

What it is made of

Each line is one part of one midsize petrol car of 1,385 kg: how much of it goes in, how much had to be produced to get that much (some is wasted along the way), and where the figure comes from.

What it is made of
Component Quantity Source
Steel
part 		862 kg Kelly and Winjobi (2020), Update of Vehicle Material Compositions in the GREET Model, Arg… · high
Table A-1, average vehicle component weight based on the A2Mac1 dataset: Car: 1900.07 lb of steel summed over all 29 component rows, which is 861.9 kg of the car's 1385 kg
Average plastic — polymers not named by the source
part 		210 kg Kelly and Winjobi (2020), Update of Vehicle Material Compositions in the GREET Model, Arg… · high
Table A-1, average vehicle component weight based on the A2Mac1 dataset: Car: 463.28 lb of average plastic summed over all 29 component rows, which is 210.1 kg of the car's 1385 kg. The source does not name the polymers. The catalogue's plastics product has no sourced composition yet, so this mass is carried by name and reaches no supply chain rather than through an empty chain
Aluminium
part 		177 kg Kelly and Winjobi (2020), Update of Vehicle Material Compositions in the GREET Model, Arg… · high
Table A-1, average vehicle component weight based on the A2Mac1 dataset: Car: 389.43 lb of aluminium summed over all 29 component rows, which is 176.6 kg of the car's 1385 kg (295.51 lb cast, mostly wheels, and 93.92 lb wrought)
Rubber
part 		50.1 kg Kelly and Winjobi (2020), Update of Vehicle Material Compositions in the GREET Model, Arg… · high
Table A-1, average vehicle component weight based on the A2Mac1 dataset: Car: 110.55 lb of rubber summed over all 29 component rows, which is 50.1 kg of the car's 1385 kg. Tyres are inside this figure, so the catalogue's car tyre is NOT also counted here: that would be the same rubber twice
Copper
part 		34.4 kg Kelly and Winjobi (2020), Update of Vehicle Material Compositions in the GREET Model, Arg… · high
Table A-1, average vehicle component weight based on the A2Mac1 dataset: Car: 75.84 lb of copper and brass summed over all 29 component rows, which is 34.4 kg of the car's 1385 kg. Brass is copper and zinc; the source does not split them
Glass
part 		32.6 kg Kelly and Winjobi (2020), Update of Vehicle Material Compositions in the GREET Model, Arg… · high
Table A-1, average vehicle component weight based on the A2Mac1 dataset: Car: 71.8 lb of glass summed over all 29 component rows, which is 32.6 kg of the car's 1385 kg
Glass fibre-reinforced plastic
part 		12.8 kg Kelly and Winjobi (2020), Update of Vehicle Material Compositions in the GREET Model, Arg… · high
Table A-1, average vehicle component weight based on the A2Mac1 dataset: Car: 28.28 lb of glass fibre-reinforced plastic summed over all 29 component rows, which is 12.8 kg of the car's 1385 kg
Other materials not named by the source
part 		6.30 kg Kelly and Winjobi (2020), Update of Vehicle Material Compositions in the GREET Model, Arg… · high
Table A-1, average vehicle component weight based on the A2Mac1 dataset: Car: 13.89 lb of materials the source files under 'others' summed over all 29 component rows, which is 6.3 kg of the car's 1385 kg
Magnesium
part 		354 g Kelly and Winjobi (2020), Update of Vehicle Material Compositions in the GREET Model, Arg… · high
Table A-1, average vehicle component weight based on the A2Mac1 dataset: Car: 0.78 lb of magnesium summed over all 29 component rows, which is 0.4 kg of the car's 1385 kg. Magnesium is not in HumanToll's materials register

Down to raw materials

The whole chain worked out — everything one midsize petrol car of 1,385 kg needs, through every product in between, with all the waste along the way included.

Down to raw materials
Input Per item
Bauxite 707 kg
Coal and lignite 509 kg
Copper 34.4 kg
Iron ore 978 kg
Silica sand 23.8 kg
Average plastic — polymers not named by the source (not in the register) 210 kg
Electricity, electric arc furnace route (not in the register) 165 kWh
Glass fibre-reinforced plastic (not in the register) 12.8 kg
Limestone (not in the register) 186 kg
Limestone (calcium carbonate) (not in the register) 7.27 kg
Magnesium (not in the register) 354 g
Other materials not named by the source (not in the register) 6.30 kg
Other oxides (not in the register) 163 g
Recycled steel (scrap) (not in the register) 259 kg
Rubber (not in the register) 50.1 kg
Soda ash (sodium carbonate) (not in the register) 7.80 kg

An input marked “not in the register” is counted by weight but is not yet linked to any supply chain. Services such as transport appear as the euros, or tonnes carried a kilometre, that the list of materials gives them.

How much of it is known in detail

100% of this product’s weight is listed in detail in its own list of materials.

Its whole chain uses 2.99 t of materials, waste included. 75% of that is raw materials the model knows — the part it can trace harm to — 25% is inputs not yet on the list, and 0% is an openly stated remainder.

In the table of what industries buy from each other it belongs to “Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers” (FIGARO industry C29).

In the table of what industries buy from each other it belongs to “Manufacture of motor vehicles, trailers and semi-trailers” (FIGARO industry C29).

Sources

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