Résumé :
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Tetraethyllead (TEL) was first fabricated for use in gasoline in 1923. Shortly after manufacture began, workers at all three plants began to become floridly psychotic and die. A moratorium on TEL production was put into place, but was lifted in 1926. Between 1926 and 1965, the prevailing consensus was that lead toxicity occurred only at high levels of exposure and that lead in the atmosphere was harmless. The struggle to remove lead from gasoline, which began in 1959, would occupy the next three decades. Its removal would require a rearrangement of both the scientific and the public perception of its toxicity and a realization that children's brains were the most sensitive targets. In the process, a fledgling environmental movement would gain strength in contest with the lead industry, while responsible government officials would be forced to jettison their own complacent picture of lead's dangers and realign their long held proindustry bias. This article details the interaction of these various forces. (adapté du texte).
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