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Smaller general aviation aircraft still use 100LL gasoline (the LL stands for low lead) - and even though there’s lead-free replacement candidates (still going

Smaller general aviation aircraft still use 100LL gasoline (the LL stands for low lead) - and even though there’s lead-free replacement candidates (still going through regulatory approval, at least in the US), it’s been known that areas around airports with frequent GA traffic have higher levels of lead in the air, and children living near said airports may have elevated levels of lead in their blood (https://paloaltoonline.com/news/2021/08/06/new-study-finds-local-airports-are-raising-blood-lead-levels-in-children https://paloaltoonline.com/news/2021/08/06/new-study-finds-l...)

verst 5y ago
What about the pilots? I always get this fuel on my hands during preflight when sumping the fuel tanks.
- stonemetal12 5y ago
  Lead doesn't absorb through the skin. You have to breathe or eat it. As long as you thoroughly wash your hands after preflight, the only exposure should be the fumes and exhaust in the air.
  - nate_meurer 5y ago
    No, tetraethyl lead, which is the form of lead found in fuel, is easily absorbed through the skin.
- Symbiote 5y ago
  Maybe pilots should be required to lick a block of lead before each flight, so they have some incentive to stop using leaded fuel.
  - sokoloff 5y ago
    Without a legal replacement fuel (which is now in the works, but still not generally available nor legally approved for most aircraft), incentive isn't enough.
  - lutorm 5y ago
    With almost no exceptions, pilots have exactly zero say in what fuel to use. Airplanes are certified to use certain fuels and that's what you have to use. At this point there is no generally approved unleaded replacement for 100-octane avgas (although several are in testing.) A few engines, mostly low performance ones, have the option to use automobile gas, but even in those cases it's rarely available at airports so it's not really an option either.
    - coryrc 5y ago
      They own the plane. They choose the engine. They choose to fly. They choose to lobby against engine upgrades. They choose to poison us.
    - jcrben 5y ago
      Many of these pilots are basically just rich people flying for fun.
throwaway0a5e 5y ago
>and children living near said airports may have elevated levels of lead in their blood Or is that because the upper middle class types avoid airport noise like the plague leaving the housing stock around airports cheaper, older and more leaded? The correlation between low income and lead (all known bad chemicals highly used in the past really) exposure is well studied rather than speculative.

verst 5y ago

What about the pilots? I always get this fuel on my hands during preflight when sumping the fuel tanks.

stonemetal12 5y ago
Lead doesn't absorb through the skin. You have to breathe or eat it. As long as you thoroughly wash your hands after preflight, the only exposure should be the fumes and exhaust in the air.
- nate_meurer 5y ago
  No, tetraethyl lead, which is the form of lead found in fuel, is easily absorbed through the skin.
Symbiote 5y ago
Maybe pilots should be required to lick a block of lead before each flight, so they have some incentive to stop using leaded fuel.
- sokoloff 5y ago
  Without a legal replacement fuel (which is now in the works, but still not generally available nor legally approved for most aircraft), incentive isn't enough.
- lutorm 5y ago
  With almost no exceptions, pilots have exactly zero say in what fuel to use. Airplanes are certified to use certain fuels and that's what you have to use. At this point there is no generally approved unleaded replacement for 100-octane avgas (although several are in testing.) A few engines, mostly low performance ones, have the option to use automobile gas, but even in those cases it's rarely available at airports so it's not really an option either.
  - coryrc 5y ago
    They own the plane. They choose the engine. They choose to fly. They choose to lobby against engine upgrades. They choose to poison us.
  - jcrben 5y ago
    Many of these pilots are basically just rich people flying for fun.

throwaway0a5e 5y ago

>and children living near said airports may have elevated levels of lead in their blood Or is that because the upper middle class types avoid airport noise like the plague leaving the housing stock around airports cheaper, older and more leaded? The correlation between low income and lead (all known bad chemicals highly used in the past really) exposure is well studied rather than speculative.