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Somewhat startlingly, Kettering, Midgley and their colleagues had done next to nothing in the way of research on the potential health effects of tetraethyl lead before its roll out began. Today, this would be unthinkable, but it’s all the more remarkable because the effects of lead poisoning were already comparatively well known at the time, even if it was not fully appreciated that low exposures could still be a cause for concern. Several countries had already banned lead-based white paints in the early 1900s due to concerns regarding lead toxicity – although notably the United States did not do so until 1978.
Kettering and Midgley must have been aware of the potential negative associations at the very least, because their additive was marketed as ‘Ethyl’ by General Motors, pointedly avoiding any mention of its lead component. Midgley himself had to take a break from his work at one point due to developing mild lead poisoning, but still seemingly had complete confidence in the safety of the compound.
It’s worth pointing out that there wasn’t a lack of initial backlash to tetraethyl lead’s inclusion in petrol. Workers at the plant producing the compound started experiencing serious symptoms – collapsing, convulsing, gibbering nonsense, and requiring hospitalisation. Several of the workers died as a consequence, and it wasn’t long before tetraethyl lead was fingered as the culprit. Subsequently a number of cities banned the sale of petrol containing tetraethyl lead, and its production was suspended pending federal investigation.
The Chemistry of Petrol & The Tetraethyl Lead Story – Compound Interesthttps://www.compoundchem.com/2016/05/17/petrol/