Thread by @markira

TIL, from a book I'm reading about poisons, why gasoline must be specifically labeled as "unleaded".

Particularly impressed by the description of the man who "died screaming in a straightjacket" after working in a factory that made tetraethyl lead (TEL), that used to be in gas

A chemical engineer discovered ~1920 that adding TEL to gas smoothed out the "knocking" in engines. Problem was, TEL was known to be readily absorbed & highly poisonous. That was conveniently overlooked, and oil & gas companies started making it, slowly poisoning their workers.

The companies blamed the workers for not properly using protective gear. But the masks provided didn't filter out the lead fumes.

NYC banned lead additives, as did NJ & Philly. So the companies asked the government to look into it. The pro-business government.

Unsurprisingly, the government-created panel said yes, it was a little toxic, but overall safe in the short term (i.e. it took a long enough time to get poisoned that it was worth it to the oil refining companies). Surgeon General set a (voluntary) standard, and back to business.

By the 60s, the major impacts of lead exposure were being seen. Children were particularly impacted, but adults also showed negative health conditions. Congress passed The Clean Air Act in 1970, and the EPA was formed. By 1973, the EPA mandated a phased reduction of lead in gas.

In 1974, the first unleaded gasoline was available, for 1975 model year cars using catalytic converters, which were damaged by lead in gasoline.

It still took until 1996 before leaded gas was banned in the US for all on-road vehicles.

So basically, even though companies were using a compound that they KNEW was poison from the get-go, pro-business politics let them use that poison in gasoline for a good 70 years before it was finally outlawed.*

*Still in use in some aviation fuels.

The EPA estimated that between 1927-1987, over 68 million children received toxic levels of lead exposure from gasoline alone. Health effects: anemia, low IQ, behavioral disorders, reading & learning disabilities, nerve damage. In adults: hypertension and cardiovascular disease.

But, y'know, go Big Business! Yay, Big Oil! Gotta rake in those bucks, no matter that generations of Americans were poisoned. Can't have those pesky health regulations getting in the way.

TIL: That's why gasoline is labeled as "unleaded".
#VoteBlue

@threadreaderapp Unroll, please