The world’s leaded petrol supplies have run dry, following a 19-year campaign against the fuel.
The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reported the development, noting that the last drops of fuel were exhausted in Algeria in July.
The industry began adding Tetraethyllead (TEL) to gasoline in 1922. While it improved engine performance, it was a “catastrophe” for the environment and public health, UNEP said.
Research suggests leaded petrol causes heart disease, strokes and cancer. It also reduces IQ in children by 5-10 points.
Removing the additive saves $2.44 trillion and cuts crime rates, UNEP said.
“The successful enforcement of the ban on leaded petrol is a huge milestone for global health and our environment,” said UNEP executive director Inger Andersen.
Most high-income countries ended the use of leaded petrol in the 1980s. Low and middle income countries continued its use, though.
Japan phased out the fuel in 1980. The US began winding down use of leaded gasoline in 1986, completing the process in 1996. The UK followed suit in 1989. Europe banned the fuel in 2000.
UNEP’s Partnership for Clean Fuels and Vehicles (PCFV) provided assistance and helped raise awareness about the problem. It launched PCFV in 2002, when 117 countries were still using leaded petrol.
Ghanaian Minister of Environment Science, Technology and Innovation Kwaku Afriyie said PCFV had carried out “media campaigns, reports, studies, exposing illegalities, and public testing done to expose high levels of lead in the population’s blood”. As a result of this effort, he said, “Ghana became ever more determined to free its fuel from lead”.
Hit the brakes
Andersen went on to say where the campaign against leaded gasoline was a first step, setting out new goals. The world must “also adopt cleaner vehicles standards globally – the combination of cleaner fuels and vehicles can reduce emissions by more than 80%”.
Leaded fuel continues to be used in aviation. In the US, Earthjustice submitted a petition to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) last week calling for increased regulation to tackle this.
Some research has shown an apparent link between high levels of crime in the US and leaded fuel. As evidence, researchers have pointed to a decline in violent crime starting in the early 1990s.
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