Yeah in the US I recall in 1991 or 92 the pumps had "UNLEADED" in great big letters running up the side of them. My dad's '77 chevy had a gas gauge near the center console that said "UNLEADED FUEL ONLY".
There's been another push to get rid of leaded gas in aviation but studies show that it's virtually undetectable in the environment.
Source? I have no reason to doubt you but would love to see where those data. Most of what I heard is that "lead exposure above zero is significant" and "if you're living near an airport, especially one serving smaller plans, you are being exposed".
This is specific to the reid-hillview county airport, north of san jose. It was in the news last fall. I can't/won't look for the exact broadcast, but the spokesperson for the airport was quick to point out that there's no detectable lead in the air. The FAA is not convinced either and has no intention of shutting down the airport.
I don't work for anything related to aviation or petrol, quite the opposite, and I don't have any interest in it, just was suprised to hear the FAA say that there's no detectable lead in the environment, and then a lead blood level study trying to argue otherwise. In the study they do admit that 25% of the homes in the study were built before 1960 (which I thought was an odd year to pick, as lead paint wasn't banned until almost 20 years later (1978), and I'd wager 65%+ of the homes there were built 1960-1978).
That's about as much time as I have to look down that rabbit-hole. I may be convinced, but there's enough cherry-picked data to make a very gray issue questionable. Looks like nationwide BLL is about 1.50 ug/Dl and in the homes less than a thousand feet directly downwind of the airport it was 1.70, and a child in a typical lead paint home was 1.90
It would have been much more convincing (and conclusive), to me, if there was a measurable amount of lead, particularly downwind, in the areas with the higher blood lead levels. But those readings either were not done, or were absent in the report.
Leaded gas used in general aviation is not jet fuel. Slightly higher octane than "car" fuel, but definitely not jet fuel which is basically kerosene. I could be wrong, but I don't think you could smell the difference between leaded and non-leaded fuel in exhaust.
On one hand, benzene goes much farther than any lead-containing organic compound, and the dispersal is exponential, so it's really much farther.
On the other hand, the thing is literally being dispersed from the high-up, so who knows. It is really a strange result, as one should expect detectable differences even if not large enough to matter. Is water carrying it away?
Jet fuel is kerosene, a close relative to rocket fuel (RP-1) and would probably run in a diesel engine for quite a while if you tried (don't try this). Avgas is.... automotive gasoline with some additives, specifically lead based octane booster. They're very different products.
There's been another push to get rid of leaded gas in aviation but studies show that it's virtually undetectable in the environment.