The archive / Health and environment
1925–2021 · Worldwide
Scientists warn: lead in petrol is poisoning us
Leaded petrol
Panic meter
The verdict
Warnings about lead in petrol were ignored for decades. They were right – the lead harmed the health of millions of children.
Reality meter
What was said?
The lead additive tetraethyllead went on sale in the USA in the 1920s to make engines run more smoothly. As early as 1925, researchers such as Alice Hamilton were warning that the lead was a poison, after workers had died in the factories. The industry gave assurances that it was harmless in the small quantities found in petrol.
The verdict: what happened next?
In the 1960s the geochemist Clair Patterson showed how lead levels in the environment had shot up. Research has since linked lead exposure to lower intelligence and behavioural problems in children.
Sweden phased out leaded motor petrol during the 1990s. The last country stopped selling it in 2021, according to the UN Environment Programme.
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