History of leaded petrol
in the manufacture of TEL . . . it is neither grave nor unescapable ’ and ‘ after mixing TEL with gasoline (petrol), no great precaution needs to be exercised . . . no health hazards actually exist ’ . 15
However, there have been many other people who have proved otherwise both before and after Midgeley’s publishing, that lead and TEL have a substantial impact on health , especially in children. For example, lead paint was banned for household use in Brisbane, Australia in 1920 due to a lead poisoning epidemic in children; childhood lead poisoning was first described in America in 1914; a 1943 study of children who had recovered from acute lead poisoning showing that most of them had significant long-term deficits and others who showed no other physical symptoms had decreased neurological function. 16 As a result, Kettering and Midgeley were removed from their positions as president and vice president of Ethyl respectively.
Despite the controversy surrounding Ethyl and the use of TEL in petrol, techniques for measuring lead levels in the 1920s were primitive in contrast with today’s standards, and thus no striking evidence against TEL was found, and no regulatory action was taken until much later. 17
Eliminating lead
Despite many roadblocks along the way, Kettering and Midgeley’s mission for a fuel which could operate under higher compression was successful. 90% of petrol sold in USA contained TEL by 1936, and by 1963 this figure had risen to >98%, with lead usage in petrol in USA peaking at 279000 metric tons [6]. 18 In the UK, 2300 tons of lead were added to petrol per year, with almost half of all petrol sold being leaded in 1993. 19
With the introduction of regulation regarding catalytic converters to cars to reduce the environmental impact of exhaust gases all around the world, due to lead particles rendering catalytic converters useless when passed through, in conjunction with a better understanding of the toxic nature of lead and TEL, leaded petrol was phased out in USA beginning in the 1970s despite the financial disincentives of doing so, with it even being outright banned in 1996, being replaced by other anti- knock agents such as methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE) and ethyl tert-butyl ether (ETBE).
Figure 6: consumption of lead in petrol in USA [6]
15 Thomas Midgeley Jr., ‘Tetraethyl Lead Poison Hazards’, accessed 10 th August 2023, https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/ie50188a020. 16 Needleman (note 12).
17 Kovarik (note 5). 18 Seyferth (note 7).
19 V. M. Thomas, ‘The Elimination of Lead in Gasoline’, accessed 15 th August 2023, https://www.annualreviews.org/doi/pdf/10.1146/annurev.eg.20.110195.001505.
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