Lead Poisoning within 5 miles of each GA Airfield

[scifi]

There are reports in the press that there is Lead Poisoning within 5 miles of each GA Airfield. This is just some wild speculation on the reporters behalf, as he does not quote any tests being performed at any of the locations in the UK.
He goes on to say that this increases the incidence of cancers from the LL100 used in piston engine aircraft, again with no authentic research being conducted.
As a result he sees that all Leaded fuel will be phased out in 5 years time, which I think is also unlikely.
Does anyone know of any concrete research being done on this fuel issue..?

[Max Angle]

As a result he sees that all Leaded fuel will be phased out in 5 years time,
To be honest I am amazed that it wasn't outlawed 5 years ago let alone in 5 years time. It is filthy stuff, 100LL has three
times more lead than old leaded car petrol.

[BlankBox]

Children living near airport found to have raised lead levels in blood

Children living near airports for small aircraft that use leaded fuel may have concerning levels of lead in their blood.

Lead used to be added to vehicle fuel to improve engine performance. By the mid-20th century, it was realised that lead in the environment has harmful effects on human health, including killing brain cells, with young children particularly vulnerable.

As a result, lead was phased out of fuel for most vehicles and removed from household substances, such as paint.

But in most countries, including the UK and US, small aircraft were allowed to continue using leaded fuel. Today, these aircraft are responsible for two-thirds of lead pollution in the US.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2353962-children-living-near-airport-found-to-have-raised-lead-levels-in-blood/

[SWBKCB]

There are reports in the press that there is Lead Poisoning within 5 miles of each GA Airfield. This is just some wild speculation on the reporters behalf, as he does not quote any tests being performed at any of the locations in the UK.
He goes on to say that this increases the incidence of cancers from the LL100 used in piston engine aircraft, again with no authentic research being conducted.
As a result he sees that all Leaded fuel will be phased out in 5 years time, which I think is also unlikely.
Does anyone know of any concrete research being done on this fuel issue..?

This article (https://www.newscientist.com/article/2353962-children-living-near-airport-found-to-have-raised-lead-levels-in-blood/)seems to identify the original source of the rather vague news reports - based on measurements made near Reid-Hillview Airport in Santa Clara County, California which is in the middle of a densely populated area.

Most Rotax powered a/c run on unleaded Mogas.

[wiggy]

Not wishing to trivialise the problem but for context the fact the studies are at "small airports" is rather important, as is the type of engines/aircraft involved.

[Flying Binghi]

Children living near airport found to have raised lead levels in blood



Hmmm… Looks like yet another nonsense piece of so-called ‘research’ paid for to get a certain answer. A mere thirty seconds on google and we get a reality check:

“..Despite Santa Clara County officials describing lead exposure from Reid-Hillview Airport as a decades-long health crisis, a county-commissioned study shows elevated blood lead levels consistent with the state average.

Santa Clara County officials, led by Supervisor Cindy Chavez, have been gunning to close the airport for years. They say the airport signals issues of racial inequity…”


So now it is a ‘race’ issue..:hmm:


Having a further look-see I find this:

“..Eastridge Little League team which was banned from using the airport’s fields after more than 50 years, are questioning the county after the soil study found lead levels below local, state and federal thresholds..”


Strange.. if lead from aircraft were an issue you’d think after 85 years of aircraft using the airport that there would be elevated lead levels in the soil..


:hmm:

[RatherBeFlying]

Before unleaded gas came into use in the mid 70s, cars were broadcasting lead on every road. That lead has mostly remained where it came down.

Neighborhoods adjacent to expressways have been found to have elevated soil lead levels, I suspect considerably more than adjacent to airports.
​

[tdracer]

Before unleaded gas came into use in the mid 70s, cars were broadcasting lead on every road. That lead has mostly remained where it came down.

Neighborhoods adjacent to expressways have been found to have elevated soil lead levels, I suspect considerably more than adjacent to airports.
​
At one point, the big push to get lead out of gasoline was due to lead poisoning concerns. However, when they actually started looking at it, they determined the contribution of lead of automotive gas was quite small - most of the exposure came from things like paint and lead plumbing (remember, years ago the standard solder to connect pipes was ~50% lead, and some houses actually had lead pipes).
They did get lead out of the gasoline, but the primary driver was the lead poisoned the catalytic converter - not to reduce lead poisoning.

[Flying Binghi]

Before unleaded gas came into use in the mid 70s, cars were broadcasting lead on every road. That lead has mostly remained where it came down.

Neighborhoods adjacent to expressways have been found to have elevated soil lead levels, I suspect considerably more than adjacent to airports.
​

Leaded car fuel is no more. That’s 99.9+% of daily usage leaded fuels gone. That’s the big dosage number of concern. The poofteenth of lead that aviation puts out is swamped by natural sources of lead.

Smoke from bush fires contains lead. The dust that blows around the desert contains lead. Sea water contains lead, Sea food contains lead, etc, etc, etc. Go for a swim at the beach and yer gets a dose of lead.

The claims that humans should have a nil lead exposure is compleat nonsense. Ever since time began humans have been bathing in water containing lead, drinking water containing lead, Eating food containing lead…

[Mooloo]

Leaded car fuel is no more. That’s 99.9+% of daily usage leaded fuels gone. That’s the big dosage number of concern. The poofteenth of lead that aviation puts out is swamped by natural sources of lead.

Smoke from bush fires contains lead. The dust that blows around the desert contains lead. Sea water contains lead, Sea food contains lead, etc, etc, etc. Go for a swim at the beach and yer gets a dose of lead.

The claims that humans should have a nil lead exposure is compleat nonsense. Ever since time began humans have been bathing in water containing lead, drinking water containing lead, Eating food containing lead…

Simply not true sorry.

[Flying Binghi]

Simply not true sorry.

Yer got me there. Actually, some old hot rods still run a bit of avgas. So still some cars run leaded fuels..;)

[Recc]

Having a further look-see I find this:

“..Eastridge Little League team which was banned from using the airport’s fields after more than 50 years, are questioning the county after the soil study found lead levels below local, state and federal thresholds..”

Strange.. if lead from aircraft were an issue you’d think after 85 years of aircraft using the airport that there would be elevated lead levels in the soil..


Surely you can see that your statement is a non sequitur. Soil lead levels can be elevated (when compared to prior levels or surrounding land) without being over a threshold level. In addition, atmospheric lead is a distinct issue from soil lead and one that is much more relevant to BLL (which is the subject of the paper). There is a decent literature on the relationship of BLL to proximity to airports and some studies that show relationships with atmospheric and soil lead too.
Some examples:
https://academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/article/2/1/pgac285/6979725?login=false
https://www.journals.uchicago.edu/doi/abs/10.1086/691686
https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/full/10.1289/ehp.1003231

Nobody is suggesting that there will be children suffering from acute lead poisoning as a result of this level of exposure, but it is at a level where minor cognitive and developmental effects might be possible for the highest level of exposure. They are decent quality studies and certainly relevant to regulators and policy decisions.

[scifi]

I did a course at University of East Anglia, which studied Environmental Control and Public Health. This was many years ago when we still had 4 star petrol. Our tutor said that the lead from car exhausts would quickly fall onto the ground and be washed down the drains at the next rainfall. He said that unless you dropped your sandwiches on the tarmac, you would not ingest these lead particles.
Just for perspective, 100LL contains 2 grams of TetraEthyl Lead (TEL.) per gallon of fuel. When this is burnt it produces Water, Carbon Monoxide and some Lead.
I still miss the 5 star, having had some motorcycles that needed it. Also this 5% / 10% Ethanol fuel has wrecked 4 of my Fibreglass motorcycle fuel tanks, which now need to be replaced with Alloy or Steel Tanks.

[Jan Olieslagers]

When this is burnt it produces Water, Carbon Monoxide and some Lead.
If you really believe that, I must doubt the academic merits of the university named.
Unless the engine is dramatically mis-aligned, it will produce far more carbon dioxide than carbon monoxide - thanks heavens!
Even not mentioning small quantities of NOx - not a lot, but still more than carbon monoxide.

this 5% / 10% Ethanol fuel has wrecked 4 of my Fibreglass motorcycle fuel tanks, which now need to be replaced with Alloy or Steel Tanks. Read the small print, next time. E5-E10 should only be used in vehicles - including aeroplanes - that are approved for them. But on homebuilts, nothing keeps you from coating the fuel tanks - a regular exercise on Rotax-powered ultralights.

[Recc]

Just for perspective, 100LL contains 2 grams of TetraEthyl Lead (TEL.) per gallon of fuel. When this is burnt it produces Water, Carbon Monoxide and some Lead.


I'm not sure what perspective that offers as it says nothing (or nothing easily interpretable) about the potential for public health impact, which is, after all, the topic under discussion. Also, for accuracy: in engines, TEL is burnt in the presence of lead-scavenging additives. This means that rather than elemental lead, engine exhausts produce soluble lead compounds such as lead(II) bromide and lead(II) chloride which have much greater potential for atmospheric pollution and human toxicity.

[Flying Binghi]

Surely you can see that your statement is a non sequitur. Soil lead levels can be elevated (when compared to prior levels or surrounding land) without being over a threshold level. In addition, atmospheric lead is a distinct issue from soil lead and one that is much more relevant to BLL (which is the subject of the paper). There is a decent literature on the relationship of BLL to proximity to airports and some studies that show relationships with atmospheric and soil lead too.
Some examples:

…

Nobody is suggesting that there will be children suffering from acute lead poisoning as a result of this level of exposure, but it is at a level where minor cognitive and developmental effects might be possible for the highest level of exposure. They are decent quality studies and certainly relevant to regulators and policy decisions.

Hmmm… I’ve seen yer quoted research in other forums. It were fairly easy to debunk research that is more interested in ‘race’ then actual science..:) ..though, lets not get too far ahead.

“...The study, conducted by Dallas-based Jacobs Engineering, took 32 soil samples around Reid-Hillview Airport. None of the samples returned lead levels exceeding the danger determined by San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Board, the state of California or Environmental Protection Agency, the study read…”

Seems fairly straight forward to me. The average soil lead levels around the airport are on a par with soil lead levels found elsewhere. After all those years of intensive aviation usage the surrounding land has minimal lead readings - go figure..;)

For one thing, considering there are still lots of leaded water pipes still in use in the USA you will get a ‘man made’ lead level readings most places in the US. There is also the legal disclaimer re lead that renters sign before they can rent older homes.

(Note, I am unable to post links. I will go back over my posts and add links later)

I did a course at University of East Anglia, which studied Environmental Control and Public Health. This was many years ago when we still had 4 star petrol. Our tutor said that the lead from car exhausts would quickly fall onto the ground and be washed down the drains at the next rainfall. He said that unless you dropped your sandwiches on the tarmac, you would not ingest these lead particles.
Just for perspective, 100LL contains 2 grams of TetraEthyl Lead (TEL.) per gallon of fuel. When this is burnt it produces Water, Carbon Monoxide and some Lead.
I still miss the 5 star, having had some motorcycles that needed it. Also this 5% / 10% Ethanol fuel has wrecked 4 of my Fibreglass motorcycle fuel tanks, which now need to be replaced with Alloy or Steel Tanks.

Hmmm… From reading the research I’m a bit sceptical of the “quickly fall” claim. More likely end up ‘blowing in the wind’ for a time, mixing in with all that other human and naturally sourced airborne lead.

[jimjim1]

and some houses actually had lead pipes


Have lead pipes.

Oct 2022
"$100M headed to Detroit to replace lead service lines over next three years
...
replacement of its estimated 80,000 lead services lines in the city"

Might also be still working on it in Flint.
September 30, 2022
"final phase of lead service line replacement targeting roughly 1,600 remaining water service lines."
My understanding is that in Flint the lead was more or less captive in the pipes until they changed the water source in 2014. The new water source had different chemistry. It's complicated - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flint_water_crisis

Likely many others round the world. Some old buildings in UK (pre-1970) will still have them.

[Flying Binghi]

Some ‘other’ considerations:

“…Lead deposition was reduced in animals that received supplemental zinc. There was a 30% reduction in lead deposition in the testis when zinc was coadministered…”

“…The presence of other metals such as zinc, copper, and iron may have a role in heavy metal toxicity. Klauder et al. and Six and Goyer reported that low dietary copper and iron enhanced the absorption of lead in rats. It has been observed that the gastrointestinal absorption of lead increases in the presence of ascorbic acid, low protein, and high fat, whereas it decreases in the presence of iron and magnesium…”

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0890623898000306


As lead is naturally found in drinking water and the soil plants grow in and thus the plants we eat, the smoke from fires, the blowing dust, and even in beach sea spray. One wonders how humans survived thus far from all that lead exposure… Diet perhaps... Humans evolved with a high meat diet containing many essentials. For example, bio-available zinc is found in meat.

I wonder what the diet is of those communities that have been claimed as ‘suffering’ from lead..?..:hmm:


And why is it that true vegans have that pale pallid un-healthy look:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=K2htKbAu_BY

[scifi]

Having read through most of the theories, some do say that beyond 1Km from an airfield, the ground lead is at a level equal to average background levels.
So rather than ban 100LL, maybe it would be cheaper to remove all schools that are within 1000m of an airfield. This would have the added benefit that the pupils would not have the distraction of airplanes flying overhead, whilst concentrating on their lessons.
I did mention in a previous post that carbon monoxide was produced, whereas I should have said carbon dioxide..
C8 H20 Pb -> 10.H20 + 8.CO2 + Pb Thanks for the correction... Words..!

[Flying Binghi]

Having read through most of the theories, some do say that beyond 1Km from an airfield, the ground lead is at a level equal to average background levels.
So rather than ban 100LL, maybe it would be cheaper to remove all schools that are within 1000m of an airfield. This would have the added benefit that the pupils would not have the distraction of airplanes flying overhead, whilst concentrating on their lessons.
I did mention in a previous post that carbon monoxide was produced, whereas I should have said carbon dioxide..
C8 H20 Pb -> 10.H20 + 8.CO2 + Pb Thanks for the correction... Words..!

You get lead in sea spray. Perhaps you should ban children from the beach..