Unleaded: How Changing Our Gasoline Changed Everything

Erscheinungsjahr 2021
ISBN: 978-1-9788-2100-2
Verlag: Rutgers University Press

Buch, Englisch, 188 Seiten, Paperback, Format (B × H): 152 mm x 228 mm, Gewicht: 249 g

When leaded gasoline was invented first developed in the 1920s, medical experts were quick to warn of the public health catastrophes it would cause. Yet government regulators did not heed their advice, and for more than half a century, nearly all cars used leaded gasoline, which contributed to a nationwide epidemic of lead poisoning. By the 1970s, 99.8% of American children had significantly elevated levels of lead in their blood.
 
Unleaded tells the story of how crusading scientists and activists convinced the U.S. government to ban lead additives in gasoline. It also reveals how, for nearly 50 years, scientific experts paid by the oil and mining industries abused their authority to convince the public that leaded gasoline was perfectly harmless. 
 
Combining environmental history, sociology, and neuroscience, Carrie Nielsen explores how lead exposure affects the developing brains of children and is linked to social problems including violent crime, teen pregnancies, and academic failureis linked to social problems including academic failure, teen pregnancies, and violent crime. She also shows how, even after the nationwide outrage over Flint's polluted water, many poor and minority communities and communities of color across the United States still have dangerously high lead levels. Unleaded vividly depicts the importance of sound science and firm strong environmental regulations to protect our nation's most vulnerable populations.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Nielsen, Carrie

Fachgebiete

• Geowissenschaften Umweltwissenschaften Umwelttechnik
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften: Allgemeines Geschichte der Naturwissenschaften, Formalen Wissenschaften & Technik
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Wissenschafts- und Universitätsgeschichte
• Technische Wissenschaften Umwelttechnik | Umwelttechnologie Umwelttechnik
• Technische Wissenschaften Energietechnik | Elektrotechnik Technologien für Fossile Energieträger
• Technische Wissenschaften Verfahrenstechnik | Chemieingenieurwesen | Biotechnologie Brennstoffe, Kraftstoffe, Explosivstoffe
• Interdisziplinäres Wissenschaften Wissenschaften Interdisziplinär Neurowissenschaften, Kognitionswissenschaft

Über Autor(innen)

Carrie Nielsen is an associate professor of biology and environmental science at Cabrini University in Radnor, Pennsylvania. Her research interests include environmental justice, science pedagogy, interdisciplinary teaching, watershed management, nutrient cycling in forest soils, and faith perspectives on environmental sustainability. She lives in Bryn Mawr, Pennsylvania with her husband and two daughters.