Lead-free petrol, which
the ministry of environment 'and forests (MEF) is All:
seeking to introduce in W,
the 4 major metrop titan cities by April 1,
1995, is hazardous to health, says H B Mathur, professor,of mechanical engineering at the Indian
Institute of Technology, Delhi. An expert on automobile pollution, Mathur insists that unleaded
petrol has at least twice as much benzene as leaded
petrol. According to the World Health Organization,
the chemical is carcinogenic and attacks the bone
marrow. He also says that the fumes from vehicles
using unleaded petrol include butadiene, which is
said to cause lung cancer. Unleaded fuel will prove
an expensive proposition, Mathur adds. To protect
petrol pump attendants from benzene fumes, pumps
will have to have nozzles fitted with vapour absorbing devices, costing more than Rs I lakh apiece.
MEF officials say that petrol pumps will be
instructed to ensure that unleaded fuel is not provided to cars without catalytic convertors, which can
reduce benzene emission. But, says Mathur, "By
switching from leaded to unleaded fueli we will be
swapping one health hazard for another."
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