Congress, get the lead out of small airplanes’ fuel! It’s poisoning our kids!

Most people assume lead in fuel was banned decades ago. But while Congress banned the potent neurotoxin in automotive gasoline, ending one of the largest U.S. public health emergencies in history, they exempted the country’s fleet of 170,000 piston-engine aircraft to allow time to find an alternative to lead, an octane booster for small aircraft. It underestimated the delay’s health implications.  At least 16 million people — and 3 million children — live within a kilometer of the country’s general aviation airports, where these small planes take off and land. Many of these people are dosed with small but meaningful amounts of lead from aviation exhaust. Researchers have even tracked the lead in children’s blood rising and falling along with the frequency of nearby small-aircraft flights. Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration finally approved an unleaded alternative. But I understand that Congress could push its use out to 2030, and possibly much longer. Language recently inserted into the FAA’s reauthorization bill, if passed, could force airports to carry leaded fuel indefinitely. That would halt or even reverse efforts by airports, especially those in California, to go lead free.  This will force communities to endure lead exposure with no end in sight, which could have serious public health ramifications. There is no safe level of lead exposure, especially for children.  Please make sure that this language is removed from the FAA reauthorization bill. Mandate the use of unleaded fuel for piston-engine planes instead! Our children need clean air. Thanks.