William Kovarik

• Radford University

The author describes the controversy about the use of tetraethyl lead (TEL) as a gasoline additive. Early warnings were ignored by industry, and as leaded gasoline became more profitable, scientists willing to support industry were financed as guardians of the scientific criteria for lead's health impacts. Controversy erupted in 1924 after refinery...

Introduction Specialized Media Forest and Stream Magazine and the Redefinition of Hunting Mainstream Media The Radium Girls The Media and Social Change I. Mother of the Forest The Media and Social Change II. The Great Alaskan Land Fraud Media and Competing Power Groups A Big Dam Controversy Conflict Management and Scientific Understanding The 1920s...

This dissertation is a history of the public health controversy surrounding the introduction of Ethyl leaded gasoline between 1924 and 1926. It is the first historical study of the newspaper coverage of the Ethyl controversy and the first time that the news media have been used to establish a more comprehensive history of this controversy. The diss...