Lead is toxic - especially for our kids
The scientific evidence that lead is harmful to our health is extensive and longstanding. Lead exposure is particularly dangerous for kids because even low levels can negatively affect brain development. As the administrator of the US Environmental Protect Agency (EPA) stated in 2023: “The science is clear: exposure to lead can cause irreversible and life-long health effects in children.”
The risks of lead are the reason why this dangerous neurotoxin was banned in Canada from paints in the 1960s, car gasoline in 1990, and toys in 2018. Even commercial jets have long operated without leaded fuel. The removal of lead from gasoline is considered a major global public health victory which sparked dramatic decreases in blood lead levels around the world.
Small planes burning leaded fuel remain the "dominant" source of lead emissions in the US — a fact that prompted the EPA to conclude that "lead emissions from aircraft are an important and urgent public health issue" because they "may reasonably be anticipated" to threaten public health and welfare.
Health concerns around leaded aviation fuel intensified following research on a California regional airport which found that children living closest to it had significantly higher lead levels in their blood, especially those living downwind and during periods of heavier aircraft activity.
Continuing to permit small aircraft to burn leaded fuel over communities across Canada is like scattering millions of toys with unsafe lead levels across the places where our children live and play. That's not a risk that parent or family would take, and it's not a risk that local, provincial, and federal governments should continue to permit.
