Leaded Gasoline: Convenience, Profit, and Forty Years of Denial
On 9 December 1921, General Motors engineer Thomas Midgley Jr. added a new compound to an engine that was knocking. Tetraethyl lead stopped the noise and allowed a higher compression ratio. Car makers received cheap fuel that made engines more powerful. Cities received a poison that would be released in exhaust for most of the century.
⬛ CONFIDENTIAL MysteriesLab Editorial 8/31/2026 1 min read
On 9 December 1921, General Motors engineer Thomas Midgley Jr. added a new compound to an engine that was knocking. Tetraethyl lead stopped the noise and allowed a higher compression ratio. Car makers received cheap fuel that made engines more powerful. Cities received a poison that would be released in exhaust for most of the century.
On 9 December 1921, General Motors engineer Thomas Midgley Jr. added a new compound to an engine that was knocking. Tetraethyl lead stopped the noise and allowed a higher compression ratio. Car makers received cheap fuel that made engines more powerful. Cities received a poison that would be released in exhaust for most of the century.
On 9 December 1921, General Motors engineer Thomas Midgley Jr. added a new compound to an engine that was knocking. Tetraethyl lead stopped the noise and allowed a higher compression ratio. Car makers received cheap fuel that made engines more powerful. Cities received a poison that would be released in exhaust for most of the century.
On 9 December 1921, General Motors engineer Thomas Midgley Jr. added a new compound to an engine that was knocking. Tetraethyl lead stopped the noise and allowed a higher compression ratio. Car makers received cheap fuel that made engines more powerful. Cities received a poison that would be released in exhaust for most of the century.
On 9 December 1921, General Motors engineer Thomas Midgley Jr. added a new compound to an engine that was knocking. Tetraethyl lead stopped the noise and allowed a higher compression ratio. Car makers received cheap fuel that made engines more powerful. Cities received a poison that would be released in exhaust for most of the century.