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Lead pollution from small planes threatens human health, EPA finds

Agency takes first step toward regulations aimed at reducing exposure to a dangerous neurotoxin, a potential health benefit for people who live near smaller airports

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Updated October 18, 2023 at 4:44 p.m. EDT|Published October 18, 2023 at 11:00 a.m. EDT
A Cessna 172 is filled with gas in Long Beach, Calif., in September 2022. (Jeff Gritchen/MediaNews Group/Orange County Register/Getty Images)
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The Environmental Protection Agency on Wednesday announced it has determined that lead emitted from airplanes is a danger to public health, opening the door for the agency’s first limits on lead fuel in aviation.

The move puts the Biden administration in the middle of a brewing fight over how long airports — particularly smaller ones — can continue selling leaded gasoline, despite the health hazards from this powerful neurotoxin. More than 170,000 smaller planes, known as piston-engine aircraft, still use leaded gasoline, according to the EPA, and there is an ongoing dispute about how quickly this form of fuel can be phased out at thousands of airports nationwide.