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this post was submitted on 11 Sep 2023
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Mildly Interesting
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Don't forget that many small propeller driven aircraft run on leaded gas, and it's a formulation of leaded gas that has 10x the lead that motor fuel used to.
But, didn't you hear the Midgley guy who invented TEL like 100 years ago? You can safely breathe it and even wash your hands in it! (said right after he got lead poisoning)
Then he went on to make Freon.
"Most dangerous man in history"... and knowing humanity's track record, that's something.
Well sure I bet you can wash your hands in it. It's a bad idea, but you could do it.
That was a great watch - it's cool to find out the history.
I must say, society is much better off without widespread use of TEL, but as someone who used to do racecar things, TEL works like magic. A little goes a LONG way, and Midgely did legitimately stumble upon something with very high effect for the concentration (they also touch on ethanol in the video which has the drawback of needing a lot).
I'm not opposed to using it in a small scale racing context (like definitely not NASCAR) because it's so fucking useful and the quantity is unlikely to cause harm. Unfortunately so much bad has been done with it at this point, I don't think that's a very popular opinion.
Whatever your views on it, it's the only thing that can make gasoline legitimately 120+ octane, and that has huge implications for some types of racing.
Worth noting that the amount of aviation fuel burned annually should make it a negligible contributer to environmental lead contamination compared to widespread automotive use (although I'm sure it contributes on airport grounds).
Edit: All the pilots I know want to use unleaded, and it was recently approved after being stuck in a bureaucratic nightmare process, but market forces may make it hard to adopt.