It has been used in automobiles for almost a century…
Leaded gasoline for automobiles was officially eradicated after Algeria, the last country in the world to use it until now, have banned its sale.
The announcement was made this Monday by the United Nations Environment Program, which welcomes the “giant milestone for global health and for the environment” reached last month when Algeria stopped selling leaded gasoline for cars.
As the Lusa agency recalls, leaded gasoline was launched almost a hundred years ago to increase the performance of engines and was widely used for decades until it was discovered that it could cause heart disease, stroke and brain damage.
The most prosperous countries started to stop using this fuel in the 1980s, but its sales still continued in middle and lower income countries. ixed until 2002, when the United Nations launched a global campaign to put an end to leaded gasoline – which continues to be used in small planes.
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The United Nations estimates that the definitive end of leaded gasoline means 1.2 million deaths averted and 2.4 billion dollars saved annually.