Automotive-grade leaded gas ends global production as last refinery closes

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Production of leaded gasoline has ended worldwide now that the last refinery has exhausted its supply of the fuel that’s been poisoning the air for almost a century.

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The end of the toxic fuel follows intense diplomatic efforts by the U.S. and the United Nations over the past two decades, the UN’s Environment Programme said in a statement. The global ban will prevent about a million premature deaths annually from heart disease, strokes and cancer, as well as protect children, who are particularly vulnerable to it.

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Leaded gasoline was used mainly in Africa and in other low-income countries, according to the UNEP. As of 2002, more than 100 countries were still burning the fuel. The end of its usage globally — the last holdout was the Algiers Refinery, managed by Sonatrach, Algeria’s state-owned oil company  — will have positive implications for humans and all living creatures, the agency said. It’s also a major step forward in greening transport.

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“Leaded fuel is the kind of mistakes that humanity has been making at every level,” UNEP executive director Inger Andersen told reporters on Monday. “It’s the kind of mistake that has led us to the climate crisis, the biodiversity crisis and the crisis of pollution.”

[Editor’s Note: Leaded fuel is still used by roughly 170,000 light piston-driven airplanes and helicopters in the U.S., according to a study by the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. A replacement for “avgas” has yet to have been developed.]

The poison fuel has caused more exposure to lead than any other product worldwide, according to the World Health Organization. Leaded gasoline contaminates air, dust, soil, drinking water and food crops. It has contributed to dangerously high levels of lead in human blood, which causes decreasing IQ in children as well as lower academic achievement.

Tetraethyl lead was first added to gasoline in the early 1920s to improve the performance of car engines; its use continued for decades despite warnings from public health authorities. While the component was banned in the U.S. and many European countries by the end of the 20th century, its usage continued in developing countries for decades after.