Toxic Monopoly: Professor Bill Ko...

Toxic Monopoly: Professor Bill Kovarik on the hidden history of leaded gasoline

Misaligned Markets by Mike @ Misaligned Markets
Aug 25, 2026
01:15:37

Episode notes

Professor William Kovarik, a Professor of Communication at Radford University, discusses the history of tetraethyl lead (TEL) in gasoline from 1923 until 2021. The decision to put lead in gasoline is among one of the worst public health disasters in human history, impacting the cognitive function, mental health, and quality of life of millions of people. The UN estimates that phasing out leaded gasoline has saved the world $2.45 trillion annually. Kovarik's research was invaluable to uncovering what the gas and oil industry knew about TEL's harms and why it was selected as an anti-knock agent.

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Keywords

Environmental justice
Leaded gasoline
Climate change
Oil industry
Industrial history
Thomas Midgley
DuPont Inc
General Motors
Standard Oil
Environmental Protection Agency