The hazards of TEL content are heightened due to the compound's volatility and high lipophilicity, enabling it to easily cross the blood–brain barrier.

Chronic exposure to TEL can cause long-term negative effects such as memory loss, delayed reflexes, neurological problems, insomnia, tremors, psychosis, loss of attention, and an overall decrease in IQ and cognitive function.[101]

Concerns over the toxicity of lead[103] eventually led to the ban on TEL in automobile gasoline in many countries. Some neurologists have speculated that the lead phaseout may have caused average IQ levels to rise by several points in the US (by reducing cumulative brain damage throughout the population, especially in the young). For the entire US population, during and after the TEL phaseout, the mean blood lead level dropped from 16 μg/dL in 1976 to only 3 μg/dL in 1991.[104] The U.S. Centers of Disease control previously labelled children with 10 μg/dL or more as having a "blood lead level of concern". In 2021, the level was lowered in accordance with the average lead level in the U.S. decreasing to 3.5 μg/dL or more as having a "blood lead level of concern".[105][106]

[–] shalafi@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago

Agreed. This is hardly a new problem.

Plastics cause much harm to our ecosystems but I'm not sure microplastics are so bad. Plastic is a really broad term, makes it hard to talk about and I'm ignorant on much of the subject. But I understand that most microplastics are biologically inert?

Seems like everyone on lemmy jumps to the conclusion that microplastics are or will have drastic health effects. No, they're not comparable to lead or asbestos, or, as you said, we'd know, would already have a mountain of evidence.

[–] Tehdastehdas@piefed.social 1 points 1 week ago

we'd know by now

Not necessarily. When intake rate finally exceeds human ability to remove plastic dust from the body, the accumulation begins.

[–] Angry_Autist@lemmy.world 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

Possibly worse, we got rid of lead gasoline, there's no getting rid of plastics

I'm sure the rich will have a treatment for it before too long and the rest of us will just suck it up

Fun fact: it's not the plastics itself thats usually the problem, but rather the solvents and conditioning agents used to characterize the plastic during manufacture

[–] Unforeseen@sh.itjust.works 2 points 1 week ago (1 children)

I know what you were getting at, but just pointing out lead gasoline still exists today, primarily in small aircraft.