Thomas Midgley, born in Pennsylvania in 1889, was an American mechanical engineer. However, after graduation, he became interested in industrial applications of chemistry and directed his studies to that field. That’s when it happened!
Midgley was an engineer by training and I wish he had stayed as an engineer. Maybe then the world would be a much safer place.
Well, Thomas Midgley, What did he do to be known as “the man who caused the most damage to the world”?
The gasolines used in the early 20th century were of very poor quality and caused a problem called engine knocking.
Thomas Midgley, who started working at General Motors, a small newly established company, after graduating from college. engine knocking problem that reduces both power and fuel efficiency developed an additive to eliminate it.
Midgley conducted various studies on a compound called tetraethyl lead (TEL) and found that this compound He discovered that it significantly reduced engine knocking problems. Developed by German chemist Karl Jacob Löwig, TEL had no commercial applications until Midgley brought it up.
However, it was cheap to produce and its use for this purpose was patentable. this too It meant a huge profit. Thus, General Motors began producing tetraethyl lead with two different companies.
These three companies, whose aim was to produce enough lead to meet world demand, named their additive ethyl, under Midgley’s guidance, and made it available for public consumption in 1923.
But there were some problems at this point. Tetraethyl lead was a substance with neurotoxin properties. When exposed to excess of this substance, living things irreversible damage to the central nervous system and brain could occur.
Also lead; hearing loss, blindness, insomnia and kidney failure It also caused situations like this. As a result of the subsequent advertising campaigns, this gasoline suddenly became popular.
In a short time, workers in manufacturing, gait imbalances, intoxications and mental confusion appeared. However, companies implemented denial policies on these.
In fact, Midgley was not unaware of the dangers of lead poisoning. He himself once fell ill due to excessive exposure to lead. However, none of these could not prevent leaded gasoline from taking over the world.
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