MORE LIGHT NEEDED

Wanganui Chronicle, Volume LXXXIII, Issue 20126, 20 April 1928, Page 6

MORE LIGHT NEEDED

JN THE COURSE of discussion in the House of Commons this.

week an amendment to the Petroleum Bill was aeeer' 1, giving power to forbid the sale of ethyl (lead-doped petrol) in the event of the Government inquiry now in- progress finding it harmful to the public health.

Not a great deal has yet been heard of ethyl in New Zealand, but in the English papers big advertisements extolling its virtues are daily to be seen. Certainly it may possess many of the advantages claimed for it. but there seem to be very serious disadvantages too, though the evidence as yet available is not conclusive.

The decision of an American committee in favour of the new petrol compound was a somewhat guarded testimonial, and Sir William Pope, who speaks with as much authority as any Englishman, on matters of this kind, has attributed a number of deaths by poisoning in the United States to the large-scale manufacture of lead tetraethyl. This warning was repeated with force last month by Lord Buckmaster. Society has found it necessary to take the most elaborate international precautions against the dangers of lead poisoning.in the pottery industry, and equal vigilance is clearly needed where danger may appear to threaten from another common source. Lead poisoning may he contracted either through the skin or through the lungs, and, if Sir William’s diagnosis is correct, ethyl may be highly dangerous both to garage workers and to motor-drivers. The point most easily forgotten is that the fatal effects of continually absorbing small doses of lead may take years to develop, and that therefore immediate immunity is no criterion of safety. Clearly a great deal more light is needed, and the result of the British experts’ inquiry will be awaited with interest.