Expert urges end to leaded gasoline

Expert urges end to leaded gasoline

JAKARTA (JP): A community health expert yesterday urged the
government to phase out leaded petrol and replace it with more
environmentally friendly fuel.

Umar Fahmi, a professor of community health at the University
of Indonesia, told a seminar on the environment that ambient lead
from engine exhausts is especially hazardous to children's
health.

High lead content in the blood can hamper children's mental
development and affect their learning ability, he said in the
seminar organized by the Indonesian Forum for Environment
(Walhi).

Umar said that in adults, ambient lead, which enters the body
through the respiratory and digestive systems, could cause lead
poisoning.

"In larger amounts, this can destroy the function of the
liver, kidneys, stomach and may cause abnormal pregnancies," he
said.

According to Umar, 40 percent of the vehicles roaming the
city's streets emit gas with a led content higher than the
tolerable limit.

In Mexico, he said, 16 out of 240 babies die of lead
accumulation which is higher than 10 micrograms of lead per cubic
centimeter of blood.

Children with eight to 10 micrograms of lead in each cubic
centimeter of their blood may lose almost eight points off their
IQ level, he said.

Energy specialist Wahyo Widianto said he knew of a government
plan to phase out leaded petrol in 1997 and replace it with a
more environmentally friendly substitute like Premix gasoline,
which is already on the market, and ethanol, which is still being
imported.

"The government understands how serious lead-related pollution
problems are, particularly in the country's urban areas", said
the expert from Pelangi Indonesia, a policy research institute.

Lead is added to gasoline to lengthen the fuel's chemical
octane chain, which prevents vehicle engines from "knocking."

According to Wahyo, Premix and ethanol have higher octane
contents than leaded gasoline -- between 92 and 94 for premix and
up to 99.5 for ethanol from an ideal content of 100. This means
they can also prevent vehicle engines from "knocking".

He said compressed natural gas, which is now used by many
taxis in Jakarta, is also an efficient and environmentally
friendly substitute to leaded gasoline.

Currently, however, all the substitute fuels are more
expensive than conventional leaded fuel.(pwn)