Poll: Does Lead Exposure At The Airport Concern You?

By
Russ Niles
-
Published:
8

Poll: Does Lead Exposure At The Airport Concern You?

Russ Niles
Russ Niles
http://www.avweb.com
Russ Niles is Editor-in-Chief of AVweb. He has been a pilot for 30 years and joined AVweb 22 years ago. He and his wife Marni live in southern British Columbia where they also operate a small winery.

8 COMMENTS

  1. Tetra-ethyl lead is a horrible poison, so I surely try and keep the gas off of my skin and don’t drink it. What concerns me most is the optics of it, we should have got rid of leaded gas 20 or 30 years ago. Jumping up and down screaming you can’t take our lead away from us is an incredibly bad look.

    • Agree, especially since GA is viewed as the “playground for the rich” per a previous AvWeb poll. GA will never win over the public opinion on the leaded avgas issue. All responsible parties need to get it done.

    • Nobody is jumping up and down or screaming to keep leaded fuel. It’s just the opposite. People are using misinformation to try and get rid of the lead. There have been studies done around airports of soil and water with no proof that AVGAS has caused any kind of danger and many of those reports have been hidden from the public because it doesn’t fit their narrative.

      If it were easy, leaded fuel would have been gone decades ago.

  2. We know lead is not good for people; it is not good for engines; it was just a way to raise octane.
    The footdragging on the way to something better is ridiculous!

  4. JoeB, Pal, et al hit the correct key: It’s the media hype, not science, that’s creating hysteria.

  5. Flattered that you followed up on my comment Russ, but I think this is one for the Docs. I don’t know about you, but I don’t trust the medical advice I get around the hangar!

  6. Humans are horrible at judging risk, including scientists and engineers. Lead is a boogeyman, but the risk is demonstrably low even if lead is a poison. We all increase our risk of skin cancer just by stepping outside of our homes every day. Where I live, radon levels are through the roof. But there aren’t cancer clusters. We worry about school shooters, but the biggest threat to kids is actually at home from parents, siblings, relatives, and swimming pools.

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