ABSTRACT
Organolead intoxications reached almost epidemic proportions during World War II. Military personnel were required to boost gasoline with additional ethyl fluid, make transfers to portable cans, clean storage tanks, etc., under primitive hygienic conditions and with little supervision. Most organic lead produced today is used for octane boosting of gasoline. The organolead compounds for gasoline are usually mixed with scavengers and a dye. The manufacture of organolead compounds causes airborne lead emissions which, in 1970, amounted to a total of 1900 tons from six American manufacturing plants, or about 11% of total industrial lead emissions in the US Many fatal organolead exposures have occurred in relation to accidents and inadvertent use of organolead compounds or leaded gasoline. The occupational and environmental history is of particular importance. Exposures to organolead compounds or leaded gasoline by inhalation or skin contact should be thoroughly investigated. Milder cases of organolead intoxication have been caused by exposures to leaded gasoline in the workplace.
