The World Has Finally Stopped Using Leaded Gasoline. Algeria Used The Last Stockpile

A calamitous invention that poisoned air, water and soil for generations is no more, according to a report from the United Nations.

Transcript

AUDIE CORNISH, HOST:

Leaded gasoline was phased out in the U.S. decades ago, but as NPR's Camila Domonoske reports, it took until this summer for the global economy to kick the habit.

CAMILA DOMONOSKE, BYLINE: Back in 1989, public radio's go-to car guys were making fun of a listener for buying an International Harvester Scout, an ancient off-roader.

(SOUNDBITE OF RADIO SHOW, "CAR TALK")

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #1: (Laughter) Oh, yeah. Those are from the Bronze Age, I believe.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Why did you do that?

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: It looks like a tractor.

DOMONOSKE: Old cars were designed to run on leaded gasoline, and the caller was worried about finding any. Tom and Ray Magliozzi joked that he could always just move to, say, Venezuela.

(SOUNDBITE OF RADIO SHOW, "CAR TALK")

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: Because Caracas still has leaded gas. And all the people with those '75 Internationals and '56 Chevys...

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: Right.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #3: ...Are moving down there in droves.

UNIDENTIFIED PERSON #2: I bet.

DOMONOSKE: The Car Talk guys went on to say, you can just use unleaded gas. It's fine. But there was truth behind that Caracas joke. Even as rich countries were phasing out leaded gasoline, a lot of poorer countries kept using it.

Lead, of course, is toxic. It's not part of gasoline, but adding it to gas improved vehicle performance at a cost. The exhaust poisoned air and soil. It was linked to premature deaths and lower IQs. Children were particularly affected. Back in 1989, scientist Jerome Nriagu was sure that the entire world would give up leaded gas soon.

JEROME NRIAGU: I thought it was simply going to continue going down, on down, on down and then would be out.

DOMONOSKE: Instead, it took 30 years. Raghu says rich countries sold a bunch of old used vehicles to poorer countries. People thought those old cars needed leaded gas. Lead was cheap, so the old gasoline was less expensive. And at least one company that made lead additives was bribing government officials to keep using it. After years of campaigning and testing, the U.N. Environment Programme says the last gallon of leaded gasoline was sold in Algeria in July. Inger Andersen is the head of the group.

INGER ANDERSEN: The global response to leaded fuel shows that humanity can learn from and fix mistakes that we've made.

DOMONOSKE: The U.N. says the global switch has saved 1.2 million lives and trillions of dollars each year. Up next, Andersen says, is applying lessons from this battle to transition away from fossil fuels altogether.

Camila Domonoske, NPR News.

[POST-BROADCAST CLARIFICATION: Leaded gasoline for cars and trucks has been phased out worldwide, but leaded fuels are still used in aviation, motor sports and other off-road uses. The audio version of this story did not mention these other leaded fuels.]

(SOUNDBITE OF KRAFTWERK'S "AUTOBAHN") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.