Leaded Petrol Finally Eradicated From The World As Last Country Ends Use
The age of leaded gasoline is officially over, marking a well overdue end to a major threat to the health of humans and the planet.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) announced Monday that no country in the world now uses leaded petrol for cars and lorries after Algeria became the last country to make the switch in July 2021.
It’s hard to overstate the harm caused by leaded petrol over the past century. Since 1922, tetraethyllead has been added to petrol to boost engine performance by helping fuel burn more effectively and reduce engine knocking. However, the emissions from this fuel cocktail have been closely linked to heart disease, stroke, and cancer. It’s also known to have a profound effect on the development of the human brain. There’s strong evidence it can reduce IQ scores in people exposed as children and it’s been associated with lower impulse control, which in turn can lead to increases in crime and violence.
The person behind the development of leaded gas was an American chemical engineer named Thomas Midgley Jr. As if his legacy wasn’t stained enough, this guy also introduced the world to chlorofluorocarbon (CFCs) refrigerants, the chemicals responsible for corroding a hole in Earth’s ozone layer. Author Bill Bryson once wrote that Midgley Jr. had “an instinct for the regrettable that was almost uncanny.”
https://www.iflscience.com/environment/leaded-petrol-finally-eradicated-from-the-world-as-last-country-ends-use/