University of Virginia Library

Physicist
Proposes
Auto Ban

WASHINGTON (UOI)-A noted
physicist said Sunday lead in
automobile exhausts creates "man's
greatest worry in connection with
lead poisoning" and that it should
be restricted or prohibited
altogether.

Paul P. Craig of the Brookhaven
National Laboratory. Upton, N.Y.,
said action should be taken to
induce drivers to buy low lead
gasoline even though it is more
expensive than leaded fuel.

In a copyrighted article in the
Oct. 2 Saturday Review, Mr. Craig
said there are traces of lead in the
average American's food and drink
but that lead in the air is much
more dangerous.

"The fine particles emitted by
automobiles are retained within the
alveoli of the lungs and are
absorbed by the body with an
efficiency of about 40 per cent," he
said. "Thus a small quantity of lead
inhaled can do far more damage
than a large quantity of lead
inhaled can do far more damage
than a large quantity consumed.....

"At least one-third of the total
lead absorbed by average American
urban dwellers arises directly from
atmospheric lead. ...In midtown
Manhattan, for example, average
values of 7.5 micrograms of lead
per cubic meter of air have been
reported."

Mr. Craig said a recent National
Academy of Sciences (NAS) report
saying lead concentrations over
major cities have not increased in 15
years did not take into account
"the most recent and best study"
on the subject.

Mr. Craig said that study,
prepared by the Environmental
Protection Administration (EPA),
shows that lead content
as much as 44 per cent over some
cities between 1962 and 1969.