How much lead was used in the manufacture of leaded petrol before it was banned, and where is that lead now?
• Leaded petrol was phased out in most industrial nations in the late 1990s, with the last significant quantities being made in 1997. In that year, 22,250,000 tonnes (about 30 billion litres) of petrol were manufactured for use in the UK, of which 6,140,000 tonnes (8 billion litres) were leaded using the “anti-knock” engine-protection compound tetraethyl lead (TEL).
“Being water soluble, lead bromide results in lead ions getting into the food chain very easily”
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