Soon thereafter, the state of New York, the city of Philadelphia, and some other municipalities briefly banned the sale of leaded gasoline. By 1970, however, concerns about tailpipe emissions led to the introduction of catalytic converters in the United States and Canada. The public health benefits of these reductions have been dramatic. Other Sources For some populations, other sources of lead may be more important than gasoline. The most acute and even fatal lead poisoning cases are associated with lead mining and processing.
Battery recycling is also an important source of lead exposures.
In Mexico, the Caribbean, and India, family-based industries use open furnaces in their backyards to recover lead from batteries by crude smelting. These cottage industries can result in extremely high lead exposures for the whole family. In 1991, an outbreak of lead poisoning occurred in Trinidad and Tobago where the soil was contaminated by wastes from battery recycling. In the United States, despite much progress in reducing mean blood lead levels and eliminating lead from gasoline, lead poisoning remains a major health hazard for children under the age of 6. Lead-based paint is a major exposure route.