Why Lead Should Be Removed From Gasoline
by
Magda Lovei, World Bank
"Why
Should We Care About Lead?"
Answering a question which
poses a worldwide health problem, a forthcoming Dissemination Note explains that lead
impairs the mental and physical development of children even at low levels of exposure - a
fact not understood until the 1970s, when it was revealed by scientific evidence that
pointed to reading and learning disabilities, hearing loss, hyperactivity and reduced
attention span.
The social benefits of removing
lead from gasoline, a major source of exposure in many urban areas, vastly outweigh the
costs, says the Note, which asserts that political commitment and well designed policies
play a key role in facilitating the lead phase-out process.
Ingestion is the main route of
exposure to lead in children, who represent the highest risk group due to their propensity
to absorb significant quantities of contaminated dust and soil, the Note explains. Adults
are more susceptible to lead exposure through inhalation. In adults, too, exposure of even
low concentrations of lead can result in elevated blood pressure and hypertension, leading
to an increased risk of cardiovascular diseases. "No threshold has been identified
under which adverse health effects cannot be detected," emphasizes the Note.
Risks of Leaded Gasoline
The main sources of human
exposure to lead include leaded gasoline, industrial processes such as lead smelting and
coal combustion, lead-based paint, and lead-containing pipes or lead-based solder in water
supply systems. Vehicular traffic, however, is the single largest source of environmental
lead pollution in most urban areas in developing countries, typically accounting for over
90 percent of all lead emissions into the atmosphere and contributing to the accumulation
in the soil and foodstuff.
Various technological options
are available to replace lead in gasoline by modifying the petroleum refining process. In
some cases, as a recent study of the Romanian refineries shows, a reduction in the lead
content may even save money for the refining industry, the Note says. Countries around the
world are at various stages of tackling the problem of human exposure to traffic-related
lead emissions, the Note explains, adding that many countries have simultaneously reduced
the lead content of gasoline and increased the market share of unleaded gasoline.
"The total phase-out of leaded gasoline is the recommended policy," the Note
says. The World Bank can assist governments to design and implement policies that
accelerate the phase-out of leaded gasoline.
Recommended measures include
differentiated gasoline taxation in favor of unleaded gasoline, public education to
increase the awareness of the health benefits of eliminating lead from gasoline, and other
incentive programs to facilitate the cost-effective phase-out of lead.
"if markets are allowed to
function properly, the incremental cost of refinery investments and the production of
unleaded gasoline are normally passed on to the consumers in the price of gasoline,"
the Note says. "Price liberalization or pricing policies, therefore, should ensure a
reasonable financial return on oil refinery investments, and on the distribution and
retail of unleaded gasoline."
WORLD BANK ROLE Regional and
countries prepared by the Bank in Asia, Latin America, the Middle East, and Central and
Eastern Europe have identified lead as one of the most serious environmental hazards,
providing the basis for the adoption of policies and the preparation of projects
facilitating the phase-out of leaded gasoline. The Bank has supported the Governments of
Thailand, the Philippines, China, India, Mexico and Bulgaria to develop tax, price and
market liberalization policies to facilitate the lead phase-out process.
In addition,
the Bank financed the restructuring of a petroleum refinery in Thailand to meet
reformulated gasoline specifications. As a result, lead was phased out completely by the
end of 1995. Projects are also under preparation in Bulgaria and Costa Rica to assist
governments with the implementation of phasing out the production of leaded gasoline by
local refineries. At the U.S. and Mexico Sponsored International Workshop on Phasing Lead
Out of Gasoline, in March 1995 in Washington, D.C., Andrew Steer, Director of the Bank's
Environment Department stressed the Bank's commitment in supporting
client
countries by providing policy support and dialogue, coordinating donor financing, and
financing projects in the form of direct loans, equity and guarantees. At the Summit of
the Americas Inter-governmental Technical Experts Meeting on the Partnership for Pollution
Prevention held in November 1995 in San Juan, Puerto Rico, one of the five major themes
was lead risk reduction. Concrete project proposals were made to facilitate the total
phase-out of lead from gasoline in the Americas by the year 2001.
For more information, contact
Magda Lovei, Environment Department, Room S-3007 World Bank.
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