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Comment by downrightmike | Hacker News Reader

Small airports have more smaller prop planes, fun fact, they almost exclusively use leaded gas because it gives them more power. So if you live near one, you're getting a dusting of lead everyday. Like this one in the middle of $500k+ homes suburbs: https://www.google.com/maps/place/Chandler+Municipal+Airport...

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It doesn't give them more power. As I understand it, small planes last a long time, and a lot of them have old engines that were designed for leaded gas and wear out faster if run on unleaded fuel. Thus, the FAA is reluctant to approve unleaded fuel in those aircraft.

The good news is the FAA is working to eliminate lead from general aviation fuel by 2030.

https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/faa-industry-chart-path-elimina...

They could just approved the alternatives today, if the APA wasn't lobbying because it saves them a little money to continue poisoning us.

This has been disproven so many times, it is tiring to even try. Small amount, dispersed over huge distances. Current measurements indicate NO more lead in the blood of people near airports than not. It is only heard nowadays from land developers seeking to capitalize on a few acres among "the middle of $500k+ homes"

Don't forget the part about "gives them more performance" which is just an overt lie. They use it because aviation is regulated to high heaven and there are no approved alternatives yet.

Yeah I believe it’s more of an maintenance deal. The leaded gas causes less wear on the cylinders and pistons, so generally makes the plane safer and less risk of a major malfunction during a flight. There aren’t many alternatives with similar characteristics to leaded gas. We used to use it in cars for the same reason, but decided the maintenance/safety/health trade offs were worth banning it.

> there are no approved alternatives yet

Not exactly, you can get STC approval to use mogas in most piston engines, it's just a hassle and expense so most people don't do it: https://www.autofuelstc.com/

That does not work for high-compression engines like io-550

When land developers finally get their hands on Reid-Hillview, you can be 100% sure of one thing: they won’t offer or be required to do any lead mitigation putting up all those condos.

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