William Kovarik
Radford University
and
Matthew E. Hermes
Kennesaw State University

  

Fuels and Society C: 4. Phase Out of Lead (TEL)
5. Impact on Fuels

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Here is a simple problem:

In the late '70's, the public wanted leaded gas because the reformulated fuels they now had to purchase just didn't have the performance (or so many believed) as the old leaded fuels. And the reformulated fules cost a few pennies more.

The fuel manufacturers still had two separate formulations, leaded and unleade at the pumps for nearly ten years.How did the industry control the buying decision so that only unleaded gas went into engines with converters? How did they make certain we didn't inadvertently (or on purpose) put leaded fuel into the tank of a car with a converter?

Answer in Section on MTBE.
 
By 1976, auto and fuel manufacturers had made the changes necessary to begin. The US phase out of lead began that year when the first cars using catalytic converts were introduced on the market. By 1986 all gasoline was unleaded.

The phaseout  had striking results in the U.S. Before it took place, 88 percent of children had blood lead levels higher than 10 mcg/dl. Afterwards, only 9 percent had elevated blood lead levels. The blood lead levels of all Americans declined 78 percent between 1978 and 1991, falling in exact proportion to the declining levels of lead in the overall gasoline supply.


1979 Chevrolet Camaro - Early in the no-lead gasoline era.

International lead phase-out has only occurred in Europe and a very few Third World nations.  The serious concern is the concentration of lead in urban areas. In Mexico city, 4 million cars pump an estimated 32 tons of lead each day into the air. In Jakarta, Indonesia, one and a half tons enters the atmosphere daily. According to a World Bank estimate, 1.7 billion urban residents are in danger of nerve damage, high blood pressure and heart disease from leaded gasoline.

While US average blood lead levels are about 3 mcg/dl, those in Mexico City, Jakarta, Ciaro and other Third World urban centers are around 30 mcg/dl. Residents of one particularly polluted city, Bangkok, have average blood lead levels at 40 mcg/dl. Venezuela, the most industrialized nation in South America, did not even introduce unleaded gasoline as an option until the year 1999.  A report found that 63 percent of newborn chiklren had blood lead levels above the 10 mcg/dl mark.

In 1996, a World Bank  study called for a five year global phaseout of leaded gasoline. It said the US had saved more than $10 for every dollar spent on lead phaseout. The savings came in reduced health costs, saving on engine maintenance and improving fuel efficiency.

The World Bank, the World Health Organization and many other international organizations have issued urgent calls for the removal of lead from gasoline worldwide, but the decision has to be made on a country by country basis and progress has been slow.
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