Coffee With Jeff

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) ★ Support this podcast on Patreon ★