The United Nations has declared the era of leaded gasoline officially over, marking the end of a major health threat to humanity and the planet. A major milestone: Algeria finally bans leaded gasoline. UN experts say lead, first used in fuel in 1922, became an \"environmental and public health disaster.\" By the 1970s, nearly all gasoline produced worldwide contained lead. Now, Algeria, the last country to use leaded gasoline, has finally stopped selling it at gas stations. UN officials say ending leaded gasoline will prevent more than 1.2 million premature deaths each year and help improve air pollution worldwide. Lead is highly toxic, with no safe upper limit of exposure. For much of the past century, leaded fuel has contaminated air, dust, soil, drinking water, and food crops, causing heart disease, stroke, and cancer. This is particularly harmful to children, as lead can damage developing brains and hinder learning abilities. \"The implementation of the leaded gasoline ban is a major milestone for global health and the environment,\" said Inger Andersen, Executive Director of the United Nations Environment Programme. Even after a ban, leaded fuel continues to impact the environment. The effects of the last use of leaded fuel can persist for decades. A recent study found that leaded fuel continues to affect London's air quality, despite being banned 20 years ago. While current lead concentrations in the city are well below their peak in the 1980s, they remain well above natural background levels. The UK began adding lead to fuel in the 1930s and phased it out in the decade before 1999. The lead contained in emissions from burning leaded fuel settles on urban surfaces and soil, where it is carried by the wind and remains there for decades. It can also be disturbed by traffic and construction. While most high-income countries had banned leaded gasoline by the 1980s, nearly all low- and middle-income countries continued to use it until 2002. The United Nations spent 19 years encouraging other countries to follow suit. Algeria was the last country to stop supplying leaded gasoline, continuing to do so until July of this year. The sale and use of leaded fuel has now been eliminated globally. The UN's next step is to phase out fossil fuel vehicles. However, toxic lead still exists in paint, batteries, and household products. The UN's next step is to phase out fossil fuels in vehicles and mandate the use of cleaner fuels. They warn that while many countries have already begun transitioning to electric vehicles, many of the 1.2 billion new cars expected to hit the road in the coming decades, particularly in developing countries, will still run on fossil fuels. Furthermore, once wealthy communities adopt electric vehicles, low-quality, used vehicles retired from Europe, the United States, and Japan are likely to be imported into low- and middle-income countries. Anderson explained, \"We urge these stakeholders to build on the significant success of phasing out leaded fuels and ensure that we increase the use of cleaner fuels and adopt cleaner vehicle standards globally\u2014clean fuels, combined with clean vehicles, can reduce emissions by over 80%.\" Source: Environmental Information Center (https:\/\/e-info.org.tw\/node\/232136)<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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