Lead pollution 

Welcome to two exhibitions of corporate advertisements promoting the use of lead, and consequently lead pollution of our environment.  Gallery I presents ads by National Lead Company for numerous lead products.  Gallery II features ads by Ethyl Corporation for tetraethyl lead, a gasoline additive. The ads are from National Geographic magazine. In each Gallery click on an icon to see the described ad. 

1.		What lead does in a motor car -- It's April 1923, so lead is not yet in the gasoline; but lead is in the storage battery, the lights, the gas-tank solder, the radiator, the rubber tires, the wiring insulation, the switch buttons, and the paint. Thanks, cute little Dutch Boy and National Lead Company!     (April 1923)
2.		How lead serves in your home -- "Lead today, because of the many services it renders, is to be found in homes everywhere:" in the bathroom as tub enamel, on the dining-room table as fine china and glass bowls, in your hard-rubber comb, in your smoking pipe stem, in your pen case, and in your house paint.  Thanks, National Lead Company! (October 1923)
3.		Lead helps to guard your health -- "Lead... is contributing to the health, comfort, and convenience of people today as it did when Rome was a center of civilization." Lead is in water pipes, traps and solder, for "without modern plumbing, sickness might endanger your health."  Thanks, National Lead Company!  [Note: With lead plumbing it may endanger your health; and why did Rome fall?]   (November 1923)
4.		Lead takes part in many games -- "Lead whistles back and forth in every play on the baseball diamond. It is at the bottom of every football scrimmage. It leaps back and forth across the tennis net. Lead influences every stroke a golfer takes, and is the fisherman's helper..."  In the nursery "the little boy's eyes shine with excitement as he takes his new lead soldiers out" and "his sister peacefully plays with her new dolls with lead-weighted eyes and her miniature furniture and other toys often made of lead."  [Note: lead poisoning can cause dullness of eyes and mind.] (December 1923)
5.		Four walls--a roof--and LEAD --  "Can lead be turned into gold? ...today man has done more than transform dull pigs of lead into so many glittering nuggets. ...he has discovered that lead is more useful, and therefore gladly exchanges gold for lead:" in house gutters, in window cames, in lead paint on exterior and interior walls, in electric wire casing, in water supply limes, and in your flower box. Thanks, National Lead Company! (November 1925)
6.		It's not Putting it On...but Taking it Off that makes "CHEAP" paint so EXPENSIVE -- And makes the expensive Dutch Boy White-Lead paint even more costly in the future, when the toxic stuff must be removed and the costs of lead poisoning are also added. --No thanks, little Dutch Boy and National Lead Company! (April 1935)

1.		High compression cars are here at last! --  "Ethyl Gasoline has made it possible!  The advent of Ethyl Gasoline in the last year has brought a new standard of automobile performance... greatly increased speed, more power on hills, ...quicker acceleration, and ...elimination of 'knock'." (September 1927)
2.		Ride with ETHYL and get the benefits of High Compression --  The picture says you can fly, not just ride. It's October 1927 and "more than a million motorists are now enjoying the benefits of high compression through Ethyl Gasoline," which contains "Ethyl brand of anti-knock compound." --There's no mention that the compound is lead, which can poison people. However, the reader is assured that "It has absolutely no ill effect on the motor or its parts." (October 1927)
3.		Less than a teaspoon to the gallon but what a difference ETHYL makes! -- "ETHYL is the name of the 'anti-knock' compound developed by General Motors Research Laboratories to make motor gasoline more efficient."  [...and more deadly. Indeed, what a difference "less than a teaspoon" of tetraethyl lead per gallon does make-- and for generations to come. The ad still makes no specific reference to lead.]   (July 1928)
4.		Take me with you and get a kick out of driving instead of a 'knock.'-- Ethyl -- Even "the millions of owners of of cars of average compression can enjoy high compression performance." [The working woman, Ethyl, is introduced as a symbol of performance, even for owners of "average" cars.] (February 1929)
5.		You'll get more from your car if I'm in the tank-- Ethyl -- "Ethyl will give you a performance beyond that enjoyed with ordinary gasoline. Ride with Ethyl today."   [In just two months Ethyl has gotten much prettier and more suggestive... but still no mention that Ethyl is poison.] (April 1929)
6.		Over one billion gallons of Ethyl a year -- "A Niagara of Ethyl Gasoline now flows through the pumps bearing the Ethyl emblem."  [For the first time-- but in almost illegibly small type near the bottom-- an ad states that the active ingredient used in Ethyl fluid is tetraethyl lead.] (May 1930)
7.		Ethyl Controls the Giant Power of Gasoline -- "Just as the strength of the elephant must be controlled to be of service, so gasoline needs a trainer to deliver its power smoothly."  [You can be the trainer, with the power of the elephant and the fate of the woman in your hands.  An early color ad. Very small toward bottom left: "Ethyl fluid contain lead."]   (December 1932)
8.		"Gee, Pop, they're all passing you." -- "They didn't pass you when your car was bright and new... So just remember this: The next best thing to a brand new car is your present car with Ethyl. ...If you must make your old car do, give it Ethyl and feel lost youth and power come back..."  [A message for the entrenched depression. Pop undoubtedly has enough problems without Sonny ragging on him about his old, slow car.  For relief he can buy Ethyl for only a few extra cents.]   (February 1933)
9.		For the past ten years, every car to win the 500-mile Memorial Day race at the Indianapolis Speedway has used ethyl. -- "Give your own car something of this same high compression performance. Ethyl contains sufficient lead (tetraethyl) to make it the world's quality motor fuel."   (July 1934)
10.		What's in a name? -- "ETHYL is a trade mark name." [Be like Ira: watch out for strange, foreign people (and fuel additives).  This is Ethyl's last ad in the National Geographic. World War II was under way and gasoline became rationed, limiting sales well below demand.]  (December 1942)

  Optional information concerning National Lead Company

Since the 1930s, National Lead Company has altered its corporate structure several times. Today the company is known as NL Industries, Inc.

In required reports submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), such as Form 10-K405, filed on 23 February 1998, NL Industries lists page after page of legal complaints and litigation against them.  Despite promoting, selling, and profiting from leaded paint for decades, "the Company believes that the pending lead pigment and lead-based paint litigation is without merit."  Further, regarding environmental matters and litigation:

The Company has been named as a defendant, PRP, or both, pursuant to CERCLA and similar state laws in approximately 75 governmental and private actions associated with waste disposal sites, mining locations and facilities currently or previously owned, operated or used by the Company, or its subsidiaries, or their predecessors, certain of which are on the U.S. EPA's Superfund National Priorities List or similar state lists.

Presently, through a snarl of corporate connections, NL Industries is controlled by Harold C. Simmons:

At December 31, 1997 Valhi, Inc. and Tremont Corporation, each affiliates of Contran Corporation, held 57% and 18%, respectively, of NL's outstanding common stock, and together may be deemed to control the Company. At December 31, 1997 Contran and other entities related to Harold C. Simmons held approximately 93% of Valhi's and 49% of Tremont's outstanding common stock. Substantially all of Contran's outstanding voting stock is held by trusts established for the benefit of certain children and grandchildren of Mr. Simmons of which Mr. Simmons is the sole trustee. Mr. Simmons, the Chairman of the Board of NL and the Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer of each of Contran and Valhi and a director of Tremont, may be deemed to control each of such companies. NL and its consolidated subsidiaries are sometimes referred to herein collectively as the 'Company.' (NL Industries Form 10-K405 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on 23 February 1998)

Valhi had sales exceeding $1 billion in 1997. Valhi, through three majority-owned subsidiaries, operates chemical, office furniture parts, and waste management businesses. NL Industries produces 40 grades of titanium dioxide (the white pigment used in paint and paper); Valhi also owns a 44% stake in Tremont, a titanium manufacturer and part-owner of NL Industries. CompX International makes ergonomic computer furniture, ball-bearing slides, and mechanical locks. Lastly, Waste Control Specialists treats and disposes of hazardous waste in West Texas. Former corporate raider Harold Simmons controls 93% of Valhi through Contran Corporation, which is owned by his estranged daughters' trusts. (Hoover's Directory)

Valhi's ultimate parent is Contran Corp. Valhi, Inc. is the parent of an operating unit involved in chemicals, hardware components and products, fast food and waste management. This unit was formed in 1987. ^REF

In 1996, Mother Jones writer Michelle Dally Johnston reported that

In 1993 the Federal Election Commission found Simmons guilty of violating federal campaign contribution laws. Specifically, in '88 and '89 Simmons exceeded the yearly $25,000 contribution limit. Simmons was fined $19,800, hardly a deterrent to someone whose estimated worth tops $1.8 billion. ^REF

On 4 May 1997, after reviewing Federal Election Commission records, Susan Feeney of the Dallas Morning News reported that

Simmons family members and the web of corporate political action committees that Mr. Simmons controls have given at least $1.5 million-- almost exclusively to Republicans-- since 1980.

Two daughters, Andrea Swanson, 33, and Scheryle Patigian, 44, claim in a lawsuit over control of the family trust that Mr. Simmons made hundreds of thousands of dollars of contributions in their names without their permission in violation of federal campaign law.

Overall, the "eye-popping amount" of Simmons family political spending ranks it "in the upper reaches" of donor families in the country, said Charles Lewis, director of the Center for Public Integrity in Washington.

J. Landis Martin, chairman and chief executive officer of two Simmons companies, NL Industries Inc. and Tremont Corp., said in an interview that political contributions are a good investment that pays off "hundreds of times over." (Dallas Morning News)

According to an AP dispatch from Dallas 0n 31 January 1998:

Billionaire businessman Harold Simmons has launched a worldwide search for about $1 million in jewelry reported stolen from his home. Among the items reported missing are two gold-and-diamond brooches, a platinum diamond-encrusted cross, and a 40-caret pink sapphire-and-diamond ring.

Simmons has been embroiled in a bitter legal dispute since 1996 with two of his daughters, who claim he manipulated a family trust for his own gain. The daughters contend their father has abused his authority as trustee of more than $1 billion in family trusts, of which they are the beneficiaries. They say that Simmons improperly siphoned money from the trusts to buy lavish homes, make contributions to pet causes and purchase jewelry for Mrs. Simmons.

On 5 August 1998 President Clinton signed a major spending bill (PL 105-34). On 11 August, he used the line-item veto for the first time to strike a narrowly crafted provision from the bill which would have permitted deferral of taxes on the sale of food-processing facilities to farmer cooperatives; it was identified with wealthy Texas businessman Harold C. Simmons, a prominent GOP contributor. (Congressional Quarterly Staff, 1998)

  Optional information about Ethyl Corporation, including MMT, a fuel additive alternative to tetraethyl lead (TEL)

Ethyl Corp. Headquarters Richmond, Virginia

  As a member of the Chemical Manufacturer's Association's Responsible Care^� program, Ethyl has promised to adhere to certain principles, including creation of "products and services that make life better for people around the world -- both today and tomorrow."

  "Personal and corporate integrity are the foundations for all our activities."

  "It is Ethyl's goal to provide workplaces that are safe, healthy and environmentally sound. Likewise, our presence in communities will not adversely affect the safety, health or environment of our neighbors."

  "We intend to be good citizens wherever we have a presence throughout the world."

  "Tetraethyl lead (TEL) remains a profitable product for Ethyl. In 1998, we began a marketing alliance with The Associated Octel Company Ltd. (Octel) that will allow continued strong cash flow from TEL for the remaining years of the products [sic] life. The substantial cash flow from TEL is an important part of our long-term strategy." -- 1998 Annual Report, Letter to Shareholders

  Ethyl President Floyd Gottwald claimed that "no conclusive scientific evidence has ever linked the use of lead in gasoline to human health problems."

  Ethyl corporation's profit for the year 1998 was $70.6 million, on net sales of $974.2 million.

  Ethyl's Board Chairman and CEO, Bruce C. Gottwald, received compensation of $808,500 in 1998. ^REF

  Gilbert M. Grosvenor, Chairman of the Board of the National Geographic Society (and its CEO 1980-1996), has been a Director of Ethyl Corp. since 1985, for which he is paid a minimum of $20,000 yearly. ^REF

  Octel Corp. Signs Agreement with Ethyl Corporation, Octel press release, 29 September 1998. -- "Octel has signed an agreement with Ethyl Corporation to market and sell tetraethyl lead (TEL) antiknock compounds. All marketing and sales efforts made to customers will be made in the name of Octel. While Octel will continue to produce all products marketed under the agreement, Ethyl will continue to provide bulk distribution services. Octel and Ethyl believe that significant cost savings can be realized through more efficient marketing, sales and distribution of TEL products in certain areas of the world."   Octel Corp. was spun off from Great Lakes Chemical Corp. in May 1998.  Octel manufactures approximately 80% of tetraethyl lead's global consumption. For FY 1998 Octel paid President and CEO Dennis Kerrison (age 54) $1.3 million. ^REF 

  "Baltimore Lawsuit," Ethyl press release, 30 September 1999: "Richmond, Virginia - Ethyl Corporation was served as one of a number of defendants in two cases filed in Baltimore, Maryland claiming damages attributable to lead. One case seeks recovery for property damage from lead paint, which Ethyl never produced or distributed, and the other is for personal injuries for six children from lead exposure. Ethyl has strong defenses and will defend these cases vigorously. It is Ethyl's policy not to comment further on pending litigation."

 "History of Precaution, Part 1," Rachel's Environment & Health Weekly #539, 27 March 1997

  "History of Precaution, Part 2," Rachel's Environment & Health Weekly #540, 3 April 1997

  Who still produces tetraethyl lead (TEL)?

  "About MMT: Methylcyclopentadienyl Manganese Tricarbonyl," Ethyl Corp., July 1999 -- Ethyl claims that this fuel additive designed to boost octane

• "is an environmentally friendly fuel additive."
• "provides a number of scientifically proven environmental benefits... and has been extensively tested and evaluated for environmental and human safety."
• "lowers tailpipe emissions, including... tailpipe nitrogen oxide (NOx) which contains N2O, a potent greenhouse gas."
• "helps [to] lower refinery emissions of CO₂."

 "Toxins at the Pump," 1996 article by Herbert L. Needleman and Philip J. Landrigan. Examines Ethyl Corporation's push of a fuel additive that is toxic to the brain and especially dangerous to young children. The chemical-- a form of manganese known as MMT (for methylcyclopentadienyl manganese tricarbonyl)-- raises the octane levels of gasoline.

  "Ethyl Corporation v. Government of Canada," by Janice Harvey, 4 June 1997, Telegraph Journal, New Brunswick, Canada -- "Ethyl Corp. claims that the Canadian ban on MMT import and transport violates various provisions of the North American Free Trade Agreement. The corporation claims its MMT production plant has essentially been 'expropriated' and its 'good reputation' harmed by Canada and is seeking restitution of US$251 million to cover losses."

 "Ethyl Corp. is running on near-empty; Firm hopes MMT additive will fill the bill for its salvation," by Chris Woodyard, Houston Chronicle, Washington Bureau, 15 April 1996.

  Lengthy, colorful attack by Bruce C. Gottwald, Chairman and CEO of Ethyl Corporation, against EPA and critics of MMT ("America in the Age of Regulatory Excess," April 30, 1996)

  "Bromide Baron Rap Sheet #1," Corporate Watch, n.d. -- Corporate profile of Albemarle Corporation (interlinked with Ethyl Corp.), one of the top three producers of methyl bromide in the world.

  "Bromide Baron Rap Sheet #2," Corporate Watch, n.d. -- Corporate profile of Great Lakes Chemical Corporation, by far the largest producer of methyl bromide in the U.S.

 Rosner, David, & G. Markowitz. 1985. "A 'Gift of God'?: The Public Health Controversy over Leaded Gasoline during the 1920s." American Journal of Public Health, v. 75, n. 4 (April), pp. 344-352. (not online)

---

Course Home / This Unit Intro

Thomas Detwyler maintains this page (tdetwyle@uwsp.edu)
Last updated 8 June 2001

� Copyright 1998-2001 by Thomas Detwyler