It’s no secret lead exposure is dangerous. Even low levels can affect a child’s brain.
It’s also no secret that airports are one of the last remaining sources of airborne lead in the U.S.
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency attests to both these facts.
And yet, the EPA has yet to declare an “endangerment finding” for leaded aviation fuel. That means it hasn’t said whether those emissions pose enough of a threat to public health or welfare to…
The United States phased out the use of leaded gasoline for automobiles in 1996, but many small aircraft continue to run on it. That’s worrying to some public health experts, because lead is a potent neurotoxicant, and leaded aviation gas is now the nation’s leading contributor to airborne lead pollution. And studies suggest that people who live near or work at airports can have elevated lead levels in their blood. As a result, for years…
Over the past several decades it was banned from paint, plumbing and automobile fuel. However, the one place where lead still flies high, is in aviation fuel -- specifically the fuel used in small aircrafts.
The lack of regulation, when it comes to leaded aviation gasoline, or AVGAS, has caught the eye of Tulane University professor Howard Mielke, PhD. He was involved in getting rid of lead in automobile gasoline decades ago.
Update, April 21, 2014: Friends of the Earth, Physicians for Social Responsibility and Oregon Aviation Watch have filed a petition asking the EPA to address the continued use of leaded aviation gasoline. The below blog post, originally posted in June 2013, details the Friends of the Earth's history of pressuring the EPA on the issue of leaded avgas.
It has been more than 16 years since the Environmental Protection Agency required the complete phase-out…