this post was submitted on 23 Nov 2025
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Add nice leaded gasoline puffs to that leaded water, and you get big beautiful lead poisoning
Fun fact, basic ethanol works excellent as a fuel additive to reduce knocking, but because it's already a well known compound, fuel companies couldn't patent it as an additive, that's why they invented leaded petrol instead, so they could patent it.
(E: For full completeness, it should probably also be noted that potential legal difficulties surrounding reliably obtaining or producing industrial quantities of Ethanol alcohol in prohibition era America probably also played some role, but the patent thing was definitely the main reason)
So how did that work, did every fuel company have a patent for lead additives? Then this means the patents didn't stop any one of them from having these additives, which is the supposed function of patents.
And if any one of them got the exclusive patent, the others could just use ethanol, which didn't happen.
I got a solid few years of leaded gas fumes in me when I was born. I'm fine!
Tap for spoiler
No, no I am not.I was 13 when leaded gas finally went away. I am fine.
Now kids growing up in houses with peeling or oxidized lead paint OTOH.. Ooooo, that shit killed and maimed..
and we still have lead water pipes all across the country...
We just got a letter from our water company that the part of our outside line they own may or may not be lead-based. And that they are not sure about the part we own. They also have no current plans to investigate or replace the part they own unless we decide to replace the part we own. Then we need to call them to coordinate the installation.
Unbelievable.
It's very rare anymore that you find lead pipes in houses - even old ones.
Modern water supply pressures being what they are means that the pipes mostly have failed. Going on almost 60 years now since the "old school" leaded piping was made and used. Lead was used because it lasted longer then iron or copper, - but not THAT much longer.
Leaded pipes usually would get brittle and crack.
I grew up in a few places where the pipes were old and the standing rule was ALWAYS let the water run for a few minutes before you got some to drink, as you were bringing in fresh water that wasn't going to have much leachate in it.
Also, the cracks in the lead pipes would get bacteria in them and the water would just smell and taste metallic.
You can have copper pipes and the solder to join it will have lead in it. Some of that still exists because it wasn't until the late 80's/ early 90's that all lead was finally banned from plumbing materials.
After the mid-60's that was where the main "new plumbing" source of lead leachate into water supplies in homes came from - not so much pipes anymore so much as the solder used in valves, faucets and joints.
Thing is, you can STILL buy leaded plumbers solder (50/50 its called), but it's used for HVAC, sheet metal applications and wastewater - NOT supply.
You're more likely to come across old leaded paint in houses that long ago had the plumbing redone. The ceilings, walls and trim - well that just got covered over with a nice new coat of paint.