‘In 1924, after 80% of workers manufacturing tetraethyl lead at Standard Oil in New Jersey were found to have lead poisoning, some of whom died, sales of leaded gasoline were banned in New Jersey, Philadelphia, and New York City. On May 20, 1925, Hugh Cumming, the U.S. surgeon general, convened scientists and industry representatives to determine whether it was safe to add tetraethyl lead to gasoline. Yandell Henderson, a physiologist and chemical warfare expert, warned, "The use of tetraethyl lead will cause vast numbers of the population to suffer from slow lead poisoning with hardening of the arteries." Robert Kehoe, chief medical officer of the Ethyl Corporation, argued that until tetraethyl lead from automobile emissions was shown to be toxic, government agencies should not prohibit it. Kehoe said, "The question is not whether lead is dangerous, but whether a certain concentration of lead is dangerous."’
‘Lead exposure has declined by more than 95% since the 1970s, but contemporary humans still have body lead burdens that are 10 to 100 times as high as those in humans who lived in preindustrial times.’
‘In 1975, when lead was still being added to gasoline, Pat Barry quantified the total body burden of lead in a postmortem study of 129 Britons. The average total body burden among the men was 165 mg, the weight of a paper clip. The body burden among men with lead poisoning was 566 mg, only three times as high as the average burden in the entire sample of men. By contrast, the average total body burden among the women was 104 mg. In men and women, the lead concentrations in soft tissues were highest in the aorta, but atheromas in men had even higher concentrations.’
‘Lead exposure from leaded gasoline declined in parallel with the decline in coronary heart disease’
‘The incidence of hypertension decreased precipitously in the United States during the initial phaseout of leaded gasoline.’
‘ From 1980 to 2000, reductions of airborne particles in 51 metropolitan areas during the phaseout of leaded gasoline led to a 15% increase in life expectancy.’
and calls for ‘eliminating lead acid batteries and secondary lead smelters, replacing lead service lines, banning leaded aviation fuel, reducing lead in foods, abating lead paint in older housing, and further reducing lead-contaminated soil and other legacy sources.’
Often lost in the discussion of lead is the existance of lead acid batteries present in every car.
Lead acid batteries are the best story in the world of recycling. 98% or so of new batteries come from recycled batteries negating the need to mine lots of new lead or the creation of plastics for the case. The batteries do not expose people to lead in normal use. The only exposure is in manufacturing which can control exposure.
Eliminating lead from general aviation fuel needs to happen soon. I view it as a low priority use, but one resulting in widespread dispersal of lead. Not cheap to do, but needed.
I agree that leaded aviation fuels should be eliminated. According to the reference below, 70% of 100LL leaded avgas is used by 30% of the general aviation fleet. How will the costs to the current owners of the older planes that require this fuel be addressed?
Unfortunately, there’s other sources of lead we have had to deal with. Just look as recently what happened to Flint Michigan. I’ve bought some income properties in the past that had lead paint and had to have it removed. Many homes still have lead pipes or at the very least lead solder. I’m sure I’ve been exposed to too much lead.
A few years ago when I was still working in the retail side of automotive, OSHA came by the shop for an inspection and among other things asked how much electrical repair we do. The point was they recommended wearing an appropriate respirator when soldering.
I also had rental properties in Baltimore City that were old enough to have lead paint. As long as it was covered with non-leaded paint and there was no chipping, the city approved it. Unfortunately, some tenants insisted on damaging the paint. We had to continually repair the paint in some units, especially with small children that ran their toys into the baseboards.
Not to diminish the dangers of lead but I’m more concerned with the 9 mm variety. Three more people shot in dinkeytown town I hear.
Like I said, some years ago I read a draft report on eliminating all injuries in minnesota as a goal. The authors were dead serious. No pun intended. Where do you stop??
My lead stories. We used to melt led and pour it into molds for lead soldiers
Was advised not to eat berries from a long a roadway because lead collected on them.
Lead in water is 15 ppb. We had a lead water service, utility puts something in the water to prevent lead from leaching into water. Many older mains have pounded lead in pipe joints. Outer water tested out at .018 ppb of lead.
Many moons ago the guys needed to test the lead in solder joints in new construction. So I submitted a water sample from my downstairs bath that I just finished. This was before they changed to no lead. At any rate it came out high for lead but they said don’t worry about it. Because the minerals will coat the joints after a while. I wasn’t particularly worried anyway since no one would be drinking shower o4 toilet water anyway. Still convinced me to switch solder for future plumbing projects.
That works as long as the water source is not corrosive. The problem with the Flint, MI lead pipes is that the water source was changed and the new water corroded the pipes. IMO it’s better to get rid of lead pipes. Baltimore City had a big campaign a while back to identify the public water supply pipes that were lead. They already identified a lot of them but asked home owners to help identify more. Home owners were responsible for lead pipes on their lots.
Isn’t it over 100 octane, thus making it impossible to attain with pure octane? They need a different additive. Why isn’t there a cheap one that works?
Electrical soldering? I’ve used non-lead electrical solder for years, and silver solder for copper pipes.
Damn kids!
What with alternatives for bullets we definitely should switch to iron and copper.
The problem was the elimination of orthophosphate when they switched to Flint River water. Even pure water leaches lead from pipes. Orthophosphate inhibits corrosion. They saved $150/month - for a city of 100,000 - .6¢/person/month. It was the receiver who took over the city after bankruptcy being penny-wise and health-foolish.
Even if you eliminate the utility’s lead pipes people still have them in their homes.
Yeah and of course the line from the street and through the house is the homeowners responsibility. No good answer, the government can’t really take responsibility for remodeling every old house in a town. They can barely handle those that are condemned. And the owners with little resources can’t really handle it either. Obsolescence is costly.
My pipe to the house is plastic. My pipes are copper and I paid for all of it. During a deep freeze a few years ago, a number of folks had their pipes in the ground freeze and burst. Big expense to dig in the winter but the had no choice if they wanted water. Tough spot.
Interesting but our electric company is offering an insurance policy for about $6 a month to cover any problem with the underground service to the house. I’m not doing it since the risk is low. 30 years ago in our other house, a gopher actually cut through one of the underground legs. The utility fixed it no charge. Something changed.
Our water utility thaws frozen lines, no charge, Plastic is harder as they use a steam machine, copper or lead they hook up a large welder type thing, fire it up connected in the basement and maybe a hydrant, and thaw the line. Many times they would run water from a neighbors hose bib to affected house to supply water.
Duluth, MN is removing lead service lines to homes at no cost to homeowners. Funding is provided by the Federal Infrastructure and Jobs Act (IIJA) and the State of MN. Of course, this is subject to continued funding and any lead piping in the home is the homeowner’s responsibility.