How leaded fuel was sold for 100 years, despite knowing its health risks

hawkinspeter · 2022-01-02T10:48:03+00:00

[img]https://i.imgur.com/VHewdMS.jpg[/img] https://theconversation.com/a-century-of-tragedy-how-the-car-and-gas-industry-knew-about-the-health-risks-of-leaded-fuel-but-sold-it-for-100-years-anyway-173395 [quote]A century of leaded gasoline has taken millions of lives and to this day leaves the soil in many cities from New Orleans to London toxic. The leaded gasoline story provides a practical example of how industry’s profit-driven decisions—when unsuccessfully challenged and regulated—can cause serious and long-term harm. It takes individual public health leaders and strong media coverage of health and environmental issues to counter these risks.[/quote] There's a nice graph there too: [img]https://images.theconversation.com/files/436456/original/file-20211208-68670-1nmlwhl.jpg[/img] Extra course credits for reading up on the Lead-Crime hypothesis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%E2%80%93crime_hypothesis [quote]A 2011 study by the California State University found that "Ridding the world of leaded petrol, with the United Nations leading the effort in developing countries, has resulted in $2.4 trillion in annual benefits, 1.2 million fewer premature deaths, higher overall intelligence and 58 million fewer crimes", according to the United Nations News Centre. The executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Achim Steiner argued that "Although this global effort has often flown below the radar of [the] media and global leaders, it is clear that the elimination of leaded petrol is an immense achievement on par with the global elimination of major deadly diseases."[/quote]

This topic has 19 replies, 12 voices, and was last updated 4 years, 3 months ago by hawkinspeter.

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January 2, 2022 at 10:48 am #31911

hawkinspeter

https://theconversation.com/a-century-of-tragedy-how-the-car-and-gas-industry-knew-about-the-health-risks-of-leaded-fuel-but-sold-it-for-100-years-anyway-173395

[quote]A century of leaded gasoline has taken millions of lives and to this day leaves the soil in many cities from New Orleans to London toxic.

The leaded gasoline story provides a practical example of how industry’s profit-driven decisions—when unsuccessfully challenged and regulated—can cause serious and long-term harm. It takes individual public health leaders and strong media coverage of health and environmental issues to counter these risks.[/quote]

There’s a nice graph there too:

Extra course credits for reading up on the Lead-Crime hypothesis: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead%E2%80%93crime_hypothesis

[quote]A 2011 study by the California State University found that “Ridding the world of leaded petrol, with the United Nations leading the effort in developing countries, has resulted in $2.4 trillion in annual benefits, 1.2 million fewer premature deaths, higher overall intelligence and 58 million fewer crimes”, according to the United Nations News Centre. The executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Achim Steiner argued that “Although this global effort has often flown below the radar of [the] media and global leaders, it is clear that the elimination of leaded petrol is an immense achievement on par with the global elimination of major deadly diseases.”[/quote]
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March 8, 2022 at 5:56 pm #988053
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hawkinspeter

Just seen this study on lead

Just seen this study on lead exposure and stunted IQs of people in the U.S.

https://people.com/health/leaded-gasoline-lowered-the-iq-of-half-of-u-s-population-study-finds/

January 19, 2022 at 10:27 pm #988051
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TheBillder

Aviation certification is a
Aviation certification is a mess. Many light aircraft still use magnetos, which fell out of use in cars in the 1930s I think. It’s easier to fit a full glass cockpit than a simple electronic ignition upgrade, because engine mods are so expensive to certify.

However, lead pollution from old light aircraft isn’t much of a problem because there are few of them, they don’t fly much and the pollution disperses in the atmosphere. Private flying has about a 5:1 mucking about to actually doing it ratio, and that’s a good thing.

January 19, 2022 at 9:21 pm #988049
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andystow

In the USA at least, the

In the USA at least, the gasoline (petrol) sold at airports for general aviation (think Cessnas, Pipers, and the like) is still leaded. Planes and engines are expensive enough that there are still quite a few from the 1940s and 1950s around, and as they’re not certified to run on unleaded fuel, here we are.

January 5, 2022 at 8:02 am #988047
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Rendel Harris

Thoroughly agree, I’ve read

Thoroughly agree, I’ve read it five or six times now and really wish it had been around when I was younger, I learned a lot more from it than from six years of science lessons!

January 5, 2022 at 7:40 am #988045
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Sriracha

wycombewheeler wrote:
wycombewheeler wrote:
Damn these medaling europeans and their needless red tape.
Actually crossing the tape it was Lance Armstrong who medaled in 2000, needlessly as it turned out.

January 4, 2022 at 10:04 pm #988043
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wycombewheeler

Dropped wrote:
IanMSpencer wrote:
If you visited the USA even back in the late 1980s, they had strange devices on petrol pumps to stop petrol fumes being inhaled – something we still don’t have.

Nearly all petrol stations in the UK now have stage II vapour recovery, that recovers VOCs released at the pump when refueling with gasoline, as required by EU legislation (needless red tape a.k.a. public health protection).

Lead also removed from UK petrol in 2000 due to EU rules.

resulting in improved health, higher IQs and less crime. Damn these medaling europeans and their needless red tape.

January 3, 2022 at 9:21 pm #988041
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TheBillder

Bill Bryson’s A Short History
Bill Bryson’s A Short History of Nearly Everything is very good on Midgely – but then it’s very good on nearly everything. Highly recommended and should be read by everyone in the entire world. Twice.

January 3, 2022 at 2:37 pm #988039
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joe9090

but but but sovereignty!

but but but sovereignty!

January 3, 2022 at 2:22 pm #988037
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Captain Badger

Dropped wrote:
….

Nearly all petrol stations in the UK now have stage II vapour recovery, that recovers VOCs released at the pump when refueling with gasoline, as required by EU legislation (needless red tape a.k.a. public health protection).

Facking insanity. It’s elf and safety GORN MAAAIIRRRRD

January 3, 2022 at 12:24 pm #988035
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Dropped

IanMSpencer wrote:
If you visited the USA even back in the late 1980s, they had strange devices on petrol pumps to stop petrol fumes being inhaled – something we still don’t have.

Nearly all petrol stations in the UK now have stage II vapour recovery, that recovers VOCs released at the pump when refueling with gasoline, as required by EU legislation (needless red tape a.k.a. public health protection).

January 2, 2022 at 9:37 pm #988033
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Rendel Harris

Yes you’re right (I mean I’ve

Yes you’re right (I mean I’ve looked it up and you’re right!) so guess he gets an “unforeseeable accident” pass on that one. You’re right about the lead demo too and he knew it was poisonous, dozens of workers were dying in the lead additive plants. Seems his devotion to GM’s profits meant he was willing to risk his own health.

January 2, 2022 at 9:08 pm #988031
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AlsoSomniloquism

I’m pretty sure that NSTAAF

I’m pretty sure that NSTAAF also stated Midgeley did some demonstration of inhaling the product and pouring it over his hands to show leaded petrol wasn’t poisonous as well, yet had to take several breaks in his life due to lead poisoning.

Edit: With the CFC side, he was probably right at sea level. It was when it all gathered in the upper atmosphere closer to the Sun’s radiation that it started to breakdown wasn’t it?

January 2, 2022 at 7:19 pm #988029
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brooksby

Sriracha wrote:

Sriracha wrote:
IanMSpencer wrote:
At the time I thought it was odd that there was quite a lobby against unleaded petrol, but catalytic converters just drifted in without debate.
Unleaded petrol wrankled die-hard fans of V8 Jensens (etc) worried about valve seat erosion. Catalysts were only for new cars of course.

Historic vehicles can have ‘hardened’ heads fitted so unleaded fuel isn’t a problem.

January 2, 2022 at 4:27 pm #988027
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Sriracha

IanMSpencer wrote:
IanMSpencer wrote:
At the time I thought it was odd that there was quite a lobby against unleaded petrol, but catalytic converters just drifted in without debate.
Unleaded petrol wrankled die-hard fans of V8 Jensens (etc) worried about valve seat erosion. Catalysts were only for new cars of course.

January 2, 2022 at 3:06 pm #988025
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IanMSpencer

What is also interesting is

What is also interesting is that when in the UK they introduced unleaded petrol, they did it without first introducing catalytic converters.

Unleaded petrol was introduced in 1986, catalytic converters were introduced in 1992, but of course it was not compusory (or feasible) to have cars converted over, so for a good decade we had the majority of cars pumping out cancer-producing phenols into the atmosphere instead of brain-fogging lead. (In the 80s I lived in Walsall – no it is not in PolandI! – and Caldmore, right under the M6 by the M5 interchange had the highest lead levels in the country and it showed). If you visited the USA even back in the late 1980s, they had strange devices on petrol pumps to stop petrol fumes being inhaled – something we still don’t have.

So the dubious health impact of fuel for motor cars was not resolved by removing lead. At the time I thought it was odd that there was quite a lobby against unleaded petrol, but catalytic converters just drifted in without debate. I’m sure there are some interesting Government documents from the era that would make interesting reading.
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