Comments
londons_explorer t1_j3z5oe6 wrote
> Industry convenience should not trump public health and yet it occurs on a regular basis.
The regulatory body for making this decision is the FAA. The FAA banning leaded fuels is like NASA banning rockets or the Treasury banning dollars.
The real question is why have we the people set the system up so that the regulatory body making this decision doesn't have the people's best interests in mind?
notanaardvark t1_j3zu1gj wrote
The FAA did finally approve unleaded fuel for all piston aircraft this past year. It will probably take a minute to get all the refueling infrastructure switched over but it's finally happening. They haven't outright banned 100LL (the current leaded fuel) but lots of pilots have been wanting the FAA to approve unleaded fuel forever. Hopefully the switch comes sooner rather than later.
The other regulatory piece of this is that if we knew for so long that leaded fuels caused health problems, why was the land so close to airports zoned for residential use (or schools)? A huge amount of the time, the airport was built away from everything in the 40s or 50s (or earlier), and then much later people started building houses next to them, then complaining about the noise and the potential health risks, and in some cases getting the airports shut down. Case in point, Santa Monica airport. Opened in the 20s, one of the busiest general aviation airports in the country, and now set to shut down later this decade.
yesyupyee t1_j3ztndj wrote
-looks out my window at a local municipal airport-
-looks down at my two year old playing in the living room-
.....oh.
Top_Hat_Tomato t1_j3znrt1 wrote
Some useful context for lead levels in children here: https://www.cdc.gov/nceh/lead/data/blood-lead-reference-value.htm
Additionally, I am curious what other factors correlate with increased blood lead levels.
YarnStomper t1_j4x5vbe wrote
Multiple studies have been done on this that account for other environmental factors like age of the homes people live in, lead pipes and drinking water, socioeconomic factors, etc., and there was still significantly increased blood levels of lead for children who live downwind of airports with piston engine aircraft traffic.
YarnStomper t1_j4x6s1w wrote
The following is from "Proposed Endangerment Finding Regarding Lead Emissions from Aircraft Operating on Leaded Fuel Tuesday, November 1, 2022" but references the same study. After controlling for other factors:
>" Among several main conclusions, it found that children living downwind from the airport had higher blood lead levels with increases of .40 micrograms per deciliter over children living upwind of the airport. For context, lead levels during the peak of the Flint water crisis were between .35 and .45 micrograms per deciliter over the baseline."
TwoDogKnight t1_j42tcqn wrote
How is leaded gas still legal in the US? These risks were known 40 years ago
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Hrmbee OP t1_j3yfe9b wrote
From the Abstract:
>Lead-formulated aviation gasoline (avgas) is the primary source of lead emissions in the United States today, consumed by over 170,000 piston-engine aircraft (PEA). The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that four million people reside within 500m of a PEA-servicing airport. The disposition of avgas around such airports may be an independent source of child lead exposure. We analyze over 14,000 blood lead samples of children (≤5 y of age) residing near one such airport—Reid-Hillview Airport (RHV) in Santa Clara County, California. Across an ensemble of tests, we find that the blood lead levels (BLLs) of sampled children increase in proximity to RHV, are higher among children east and predominantly downwind of the airport, and increase with the volume of PEA traffic and quantities of avgas sold at the airport. The BLLs of airport-proximate children are especially responsive to an increase in PEA traffic, increasing by about 0.72 μg/dL under periods of maximum PEA traffic. We also observe a significant reduction in child BLLs from a series of pandemic-related interventions in Santa Clara County that contracted PEA traffic at the airport. Finally, we find that children’s BLLs increase with measured concentrations of atmospheric lead at the airport. In support of the scientific adjudication of the EPAs recently announced endangerment finding, this in-depth case study indicates that the deposition of avgas significantly elevates the BLLs of at-risk children.
It's unfortunate that a full switch from leaded gasoline in all its forms hasn't been implemented since we've understood the dangers over a generation ago. Industry convenience should not trump public health and yet it occurs on a regular basis.