The United Nations (UN) has announced that the use of leaded petrol has been eradicated planet-wide.
Most countries had phased out the use of leaded petrol since the 1980s but it was still used by a handful of countries, until very recently. In July Algeria, the last country to still be using the fuel, ran out and now no country uses it.
Said the secretary-general of the UN, Antonio Guterres: ‘Ending the use of leaded petrol will prevent more than one million premature deaths each year from heart disease, strokes and cancer, and it will protect children whose IQs are damaged by exposure to lead.’
According to the BBC lead was first added to petrol in the 1920s to improve engine performance. Despite early indications that its use was dangerous it only started getting phased out in the 1970s, initially only in wealthier countries.
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