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)