Back in the early days of gasoline-powered automobiles, engines had a problem with knocking. The answer – or so the oil companies thought – was to mix highly toxic lead into the gas! This poison came out through the exhaust and into the air, the very same air that kids breathe … And this went on for over 60 years!
Show notes and links:
- Tetraethyllead – Wikipedia (wikipedia.org)
- Octane rating – Wikipedia (wikipedia.org)
- Why Lead Used to Be Added To Gasoline (todayifoundout.com)
- The Secret History of Lead (thenation.com)
- Lead for Life – the history of leaded gasoline – an excerpt (youtube.com)
- Regular Unleaded: The CC Patterson Story (youtube.com)
- Children, Pollution, and Why Scientists Disagree by Colleen F. Moore (goodreads.com)
- Looney Gas and Lead Poisoning: A Short, Sad History (wired.com)
- The Most Important Scientist You’ve Never Heard Of (mentalfloss.com)
- Charles F. Kettering and the 1921 discovery of tetraethyl lead | (environmentalhistory.org)
