Tetra ethyl lead (TEL) is a killer chemical, nowadays banned in the West for use in car fuel. The colorless and oily liquid is so toxic that workers went mad and died during the first attempt to manufacture TEL commercially, at the Bayway refinery in New Jersey (US) in 1924. American newspapers called it “loony gas.” After that scandal, double-skinned rubber gear and goggles became de rigueur in its manufacture. TEL is the “lead” in leaded petrol: a heavy metal compound to improve energy performance. It was promoted by the oil industry for 50 years, until evidence of childhood neurological damage eventually outlawed it by 2000 in Europe and the US.
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