The Lead Industries Association (LIA) was a trade organization that in 1925 made it possible for
Tetraethyllead
Tetraethyllead (commonly styled tetraethyl lead), abbreviated TEL, is an organolead compound with the formula Pb( C2H5)4. It is a fuel additive, first being mixed with gasoline beginning in the 1920s as a patented octane rating booster that al ...
to be an additive of commercial gasoline and later incorporated in 1928 to promote the interests of the
lead
Lead is a chemical element with the symbol Pb (from the Latin ) and atomic number 82. It is a heavy metal that is denser than most common materials. Lead is soft and malleable, and also has a relatively low melting point. When freshly cu ...
industry. The National Lead Institute was a predecessor of the Lead Industries Association The association lobbied to lift bans on, and promote the use of,
lead pipes. The association also promoted
lead-based paint
Lead paint or lead-based paint is paint containing lead. As pigment, lead(II) chromate (, "chrome yellow"), lead(II,IV) oxide, (, "red lead"), and lead(II) carbonate (, "white lead") are the most common forms.. Lead is added to paint to acceler ...
s, which became the subject of a poisoning lawsuit filed against paint manufacturers. In 1958, the LIA and the
American Zinc Institute founded an organization with a similar mission that outlasted the LIA, the
International Lead Zinc Research Organization (ILZRO). In 2002, the Lead Industries Association of
Sparta, NJ, went bankrupt and defunct citing that they were unable to get insurance to cover the litigation against them.
Richard Schweiker
Richard Schultz Schweiker (June 1, 1926 – July 31, 2015) was an American businessman and politician. A member of the Republican Party, he served as the 14th U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services under President Ronald Reagan from 198 ...
's 1972 testimony in the US Congressional record includes a transcript of a segment that aired January 28, 1972, on the
NBC
The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...
Chronolog program concerning
lead poisoning
Lead poisoning, also known as plumbism and saturnism, is a type of metal poisoning caused by lead in the body. The brain is the most sensitive. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, irritability, memory problems, inferti ...
. The ILZRO wrote a memo refuting information presented in that show.
The LIA unsuccessfully attempted to make Ronald G. Stevens of Long Island Film Studios remove statements about lead in gasoline and from industrial pollution affecting children regardless of socioeconomic status from a 10-minute film titled ''Lead Poisoning, The Hidden Epidemic'' that won a 1972 Silver Medal from the
New York Film Festival
The New York Film Festival (NYFF) is a film festival held every fall in New York City, presented by Film at Lincoln Center (FLC). Founded in 1963 by Richard Roud and Amos Vogel with the support of Lincoln Center president William Schuman, it is ...
.
References
Trade associations based in the United States
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