Philosoraptor: Lead in Gas: 4 Grams/Gallon????

Saturday, September 14, 2013

Leaded gas typically had 4 grams of lead per gallon??????

This seems unbelievable to me.

Pete Mack said...: Well, yes. Trace amounts of materials pretty much only matter in catalysis and biological processes (but I repeat myself.)

Leaded gasoline was known to be dangerous right from the start. It was a crazy thing to do.

Also, lead is heavy, so 4 grams of lead is the equivalent molar amount as 0.25 grams of gasoline.; 1:46 PM
Pete Mack said...: Also:
http://globalleadnet.com/131/the-secret-history-of-lead-a-special-report
for a history of just how crooked the whole concept of leaded gas actually was. It turns out one reason cars last longer now is that ... they don't use lead!; 5:58 PM
Jim Bales said...: WS,

Does that strike you as too high or too low?

(FWIW, a gallon of gasoline weighs ~ 6 kg, so 4 grams is just 0.000 67, or 1/1500. Wikipedia says that the fraction of tetraethyl lead in gasoline was about 1 part in 1,500, which matches.)

Best
Jim; 8:06 AM
Dark Avenger said...: 4 grams is the weight of 4 dimes(American currency) so that's not really a lot.; 2:14 PM