1 00:00:01,280 --> 00:00:04,320 Speaker 1: Welcome to Stuff You Missed in History Class, a production 2 00:00:04,400 --> 00:00:13,720 Speaker 1: of I Heart Radio. Hello, and welcome to the podcast. 3 00:00:13,760 --> 00:00:17,880 Speaker 1: I'm Tracy V. Wilson and I'm Holly Fry. I recently 4 00:00:17,960 --> 00:00:22,080 Speaker 1: learned that the same person developed both leaded gasoline and 5 00:00:22,280 --> 00:00:25,720 Speaker 1: free on, and those are two substances that are basically 6 00:00:25,800 --> 00:00:29,240 Speaker 1: banned around the world now because they are both very 7 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:31,880 Speaker 1: bad for the environment and for public health. So when 8 00:00:31,920 --> 00:00:34,440 Speaker 1: I heard this tidbit of information, of course, I thought, 9 00:00:35,200 --> 00:00:38,240 Speaker 1: holy crap, that guy's definitely getting an episode. And then 10 00:00:38,280 --> 00:00:42,199 Speaker 1: I didn't write it down. Happens, and I have to 11 00:00:42,200 --> 00:00:45,320 Speaker 1: write things down, So then I got to rediscover that 12 00:00:45,400 --> 00:00:48,720 Speaker 1: information a couple of weeks later and write it down 13 00:00:48,800 --> 00:00:53,519 Speaker 1: that time. That person's name was Thomas Midgley Jr. And 14 00:00:53,600 --> 00:00:58,160 Speaker 1: when he died, the destructive effects of leaded gasoline were 15 00:00:58,240 --> 00:01:01,960 Speaker 1: not fully known. They were somewhat known, and we're going 16 00:01:02,000 --> 00:01:06,200 Speaker 1: to get to that. The destructive effects of clorofluoro carbons, 17 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:08,840 Speaker 1: which free on is one of, they weren't known at 18 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:11,680 Speaker 1: all yet. So what we're gonna do today is we're 19 00:01:11,680 --> 00:01:15,319 Speaker 1: gonna walk through Thomas Midgley Junior's biography and then we're 20 00:01:15,319 --> 00:01:17,960 Speaker 1: gonna double back to take a closer look at those 21 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 1: those two most notorious inventions of his and how they 22 00:01:22,160 --> 00:01:24,560 Speaker 1: both came to be taken off the market. Heads up 23 00:01:25,400 --> 00:01:30,119 Speaker 1: if you are squeamish about eye injuries, there is one 24 00:01:30,280 --> 00:01:33,080 Speaker 1: in here that you might want to fast forward through. 25 00:01:33,120 --> 00:01:34,959 Speaker 1: We'll give a heads up when we get to that. 26 00:01:36,120 --> 00:01:40,080 Speaker 1: It was too weird and also to me too illustrative 27 00:01:40,280 --> 00:01:43,000 Speaker 1: of the way his mind worked that I didn't want 28 00:01:43,040 --> 00:01:47,319 Speaker 1: to just leave it out. Also, Midgeley's death may have 29 00:01:47,600 --> 00:01:50,440 Speaker 1: been by suicide, and we're gonna be talking about that 30 00:01:50,920 --> 00:01:53,880 Speaker 1: regardless though of whether his death was intentional or not. 31 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:56,680 Speaker 1: I also found the details of how it happened to 32 00:01:56,760 --> 00:02:02,880 Speaker 1: be pretty upsetting. So this generally an upsetting for a 33 00:02:02,960 --> 00:02:07,240 Speaker 1: variety of reasons. Yeah, Yeah, it's upsetting from multiple directions, 34 00:02:07,360 --> 00:02:11,840 Speaker 1: for sure. Thomas Midley Jr. Was born on eight eighty 35 00:02:11,919 --> 00:02:15,720 Speaker 1: nine in Beaver Falls, Pennsylvania, to Thomas Midley, Senior and 36 00:02:15,800 --> 00:02:20,080 Speaker 1: Hattie Emerson Midgley. Thomas Sr. Had immigrated to the United 37 00:02:20,080 --> 00:02:22,640 Speaker 1: States from England and spent most of his career working 38 00:02:22,680 --> 00:02:27,040 Speaker 1: in the bicycle, automotive, and rubber industries, developing and improving 39 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:31,120 Speaker 1: on things like tires with removable Rims. When Thomas Jr. 40 00:02:31,200 --> 00:02:33,800 Speaker 1: Was young, the family moved to Trenton, New Jersey, and 41 00:02:33,840 --> 00:02:36,800 Speaker 1: then to Columbus, Ohio. He spent a lot of his 42 00:02:36,880 --> 00:02:40,720 Speaker 1: life in the Columbus area. According to a biographical address 43 00:02:40,800 --> 00:02:43,840 Speaker 1: about him that was delivered by his colleague, Charles Kettering, 44 00:02:44,240 --> 00:02:47,520 Speaker 1: which may have actually been written by another colleague, Thomas 45 00:02:47,600 --> 00:02:52,560 Speaker 1: Boyd Midgley's inventiveness showed itself really early on. He played 46 00:02:52,560 --> 00:02:55,800 Speaker 1: baseball along with other sports, and when the spit ball 47 00:02:55,880 --> 00:02:59,280 Speaker 1: started becoming more popular, he started trying to figure out 48 00:02:59,320 --> 00:03:03,120 Speaker 1: the best possible substance to put on the ball. He 49 00:03:03,200 --> 00:03:06,240 Speaker 1: eventually landed on an extract from the inner bark of 50 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:10,320 Speaker 1: the slippery Elm Tree Major League Baseball band the spitball 51 00:03:10,440 --> 00:03:13,880 Speaker 1: in nine. So, in addition to getting an early start 52 00:03:14,400 --> 00:03:17,840 Speaker 1: on inventing, Thomas also would at an early start with 53 00:03:17,919 --> 00:03:20,760 Speaker 1: developing things that would then go on to be banned. 54 00:03:21,919 --> 00:03:26,160 Speaker 1: While attending Bets Academy in Stamford, Connecticut, Thomas took courses 55 00:03:26,160 --> 00:03:29,000 Speaker 1: in chemistry and really came to love the Periodic Table 56 00:03:29,080 --> 00:03:32,760 Speaker 1: of Elements during his career as a researcher. He carried 57 00:03:32,800 --> 00:03:36,240 Speaker 1: a copy of it with him all the time. After 58 00:03:36,280 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 1: graduating from BETS, he went on to Cornell University, where 59 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:41,560 Speaker 1: he got a Master of Engineering in nineteen o eight 60 00:03:41,600 --> 00:03:44,600 Speaker 1: and a pH d in mechanical engineering in nineteen eleven. 61 00:03:45,440 --> 00:03:48,880 Speaker 1: On August three of that year, he married Carrie M. Reynolds, 62 00:03:48,880 --> 00:03:52,720 Speaker 1: and they eventually had two children, Jane and Thomas. Although 63 00:03:52,760 --> 00:03:55,280 Speaker 1: Midgley did his most famous work as a chemist, he 64 00:03:55,400 --> 00:03:57,720 Speaker 1: started out in a job that was more in line 65 00:03:57,760 --> 00:04:01,400 Speaker 1: with his engineering degrees. He was working as a draftsman 66 00:04:01,480 --> 00:04:04,880 Speaker 1: and an engineer at National Cash Register Company, or n 67 00:04:04,920 --> 00:04:08,440 Speaker 1: c R. After he'd been at NCR for about a year, 68 00:04:08,920 --> 00:04:11,960 Speaker 1: his father asked him to come work at his tire factory. 69 00:04:12,040 --> 00:04:14,960 Speaker 1: So Thomas Jr. Did and while he was working at 70 00:04:14,960 --> 00:04:17,760 Speaker 1: this factory, he started to become more interested in cars. 71 00:04:18,360 --> 00:04:22,200 Speaker 1: He also kept inventing things, including a hydrometer to check 72 00:04:22,279 --> 00:04:25,880 Speaker 1: whether there was enough alcohol, and a car's radiator fluid 73 00:04:25,960 --> 00:04:28,680 Speaker 1: to keep it from freezing up in the wintertime. So 74 00:04:28,760 --> 00:04:32,240 Speaker 1: he used two balls, each with a different specific gravity, 75 00:04:32,640 --> 00:04:35,080 Speaker 1: and if the anti freeze mix was right, one of 76 00:04:35,120 --> 00:04:38,520 Speaker 1: these balls would sink and the other of them would float. 77 00:04:38,920 --> 00:04:40,920 Speaker 1: When I read this, I was like, oh yeah, because 78 00:04:40,960 --> 00:04:43,600 Speaker 1: that's the kind of thing that my dad used to 79 00:04:43,640 --> 00:04:45,719 Speaker 1: show me how to check the radiator fluid when I 80 00:04:45,760 --> 00:04:50,479 Speaker 1: was a kid. Despite Thomas Jr's help, Thomas Senior's tire 81 00:04:50,520 --> 00:04:54,760 Speaker 1: factory eventually closed, so Thomas Jr. Needed a new job. 82 00:04:55,560 --> 00:04:58,080 Speaker 1: While working at NCR, he had become familiar with the 83 00:04:58,080 --> 00:05:02,320 Speaker 1: work of Charles Kettering. Kettering had already left NCR by 84 00:05:02,360 --> 00:05:04,520 Speaker 1: the time Midgley started there, but he had been the 85 00:05:04,520 --> 00:05:07,400 Speaker 1: head of the research division and was credited with more 86 00:05:07,440 --> 00:05:12,279 Speaker 1: than twenty of NCRS patents. After leaving NCR, Kettering had 87 00:05:12,279 --> 00:05:16,719 Speaker 1: helped found Dayton Engineering Laboratories Company, or Delco, and that's 88 00:05:16,720 --> 00:05:20,239 Speaker 1: where Midgley decided he wanted to work. He was hired 89 00:05:20,279 --> 00:05:24,000 Speaker 1: there in nineteen sixteen and his first project was another hydrometer, 90 00:05:24,480 --> 00:05:27,360 Speaker 1: this one built into a battery to show how much 91 00:05:27,440 --> 00:05:31,280 Speaker 1: charge was left. After that, Midgley was asked to work 92 00:05:31,279 --> 00:05:34,600 Speaker 1: on a solution for engine knock. We're not going to 93 00:05:34,680 --> 00:05:37,760 Speaker 1: get into the finer points of what's happening inside various 94 00:05:37,839 --> 00:05:42,560 Speaker 1: types of internal combustion engines, but basically what was supposed 95 00:05:42,600 --> 00:05:45,760 Speaker 1: to happen was that a spark from the spark plug 96 00:05:45,800 --> 00:05:48,560 Speaker 1: would ignite the fuel in the cylinder, and then that 97 00:05:48,600 --> 00:05:51,880 Speaker 1: fuel would effectively burn all at once, but if some 98 00:05:52,080 --> 00:05:55,640 Speaker 1: of the fuel ignited at the wrong time, not when 99 00:05:55,680 --> 00:05:59,000 Speaker 1: that spark was sparking, it would cause an unwanted pressure 100 00:05:59,040 --> 00:06:03,599 Speaker 1: spike inside the cylinder, and this caused a distinctive, very 101 00:06:03,680 --> 00:06:07,719 Speaker 1: noisy knocking or pinging. It was also inefficient, and it 102 00:06:07,720 --> 00:06:10,960 Speaker 1: could cause the engine to lose power. It could damage 103 00:06:11,000 --> 00:06:13,800 Speaker 1: the engine over time. It was not great for engines. 104 00:06:14,480 --> 00:06:18,160 Speaker 1: At first, Midley proposed dying the fuel red, thinking that 105 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:21,240 Speaker 1: would cause it to absorb more heat and evaporate faster, 106 00:06:21,680 --> 00:06:25,320 Speaker 1: reducing the potential for knock. He had trouble finding a 107 00:06:25,360 --> 00:06:27,760 Speaker 1: red pigment that would work for this purpose, so his 108 00:06:27,839 --> 00:06:30,560 Speaker 1: first attempt was with iodine, which made the fuel more 109 00:06:30,600 --> 00:06:33,640 Speaker 1: of a brownish black, and that did reduce the knock, 110 00:06:33,839 --> 00:06:36,960 Speaker 1: but it also would have been too expensive for widespread use. 111 00:06:37,640 --> 00:06:41,080 Speaker 1: When he found other colorance he thought might work, they didn't. 112 00:06:41,560 --> 00:06:44,480 Speaker 1: It became clear that the iodine itself, not the color 113 00:06:44,560 --> 00:06:48,000 Speaker 1: of the fuel, was what had reduced the knock. But 114 00:06:48,120 --> 00:06:51,279 Speaker 1: then the United States became involved in World War One 115 00:06:51,400 --> 00:06:53,680 Speaker 1: and Midgley had to take a break from this project 116 00:06:53,839 --> 00:06:57,440 Speaker 1: focus on wartime stuff. During the war, he tried to 117 00:06:57,440 --> 00:07:01,240 Speaker 1: find a more efficient and powerful air draft fuel, and 118 00:07:01,279 --> 00:07:04,120 Speaker 1: he eventually landed on a mix that was about seventy 119 00:07:04,240 --> 00:07:09,760 Speaker 1: percent cyclohexane and benzene. The war ended before this could 120 00:07:09,760 --> 00:07:12,800 Speaker 1: be put into use, which is probably good because benzine 121 00:07:12,840 --> 00:07:17,520 Speaker 1: causes cancer. Mentley also worked on an aerial torpedo that 122 00:07:17,640 --> 00:07:20,640 Speaker 1: similarly wasn't used during the war because it wasn't ready 123 00:07:20,640 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: in time. During this period, Mentally dealt with an eye 124 00:07:24,800 --> 00:07:28,080 Speaker 1: injury and if I stuff squats you out, this would 125 00:07:28,080 --> 00:07:30,320 Speaker 1: be a good time to skip ahead about a minute. 126 00:07:30,360 --> 00:07:33,840 Speaker 1: In fifteen seconds, there was a safety plug on a 127 00:07:33,920 --> 00:07:37,040 Speaker 1: hydrogen tank made of a soft alloy of tin, bismuth, 128 00:07:37,120 --> 00:07:40,720 Speaker 1: and lead. This plug burst and tiny pieces of it 129 00:07:40,760 --> 00:07:45,240 Speaker 1: became embedded in Midsley's right cornea. A doctor removed the 130 00:07:45,240 --> 00:07:48,440 Speaker 1: biggest pieces, but his eye was peppered with flex that 131 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:53,040 Speaker 1: were just too small to manually remove. This was really uncomfortable, 132 00:07:53,080 --> 00:07:55,880 Speaker 1: and Middley started to have problems with his other eye 133 00:07:55,960 --> 00:07:59,800 Speaker 1: in what felt to him like a sympathetic reaction, So 134 00:08:00,280 --> 00:08:02,960 Speaker 1: with his doctors okay, he tried a treatment that he 135 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:05,640 Speaker 1: came up with on his own, which was to use 136 00:08:05,720 --> 00:08:09,200 Speaker 1: a cup to hold purified mercury against the surface of 137 00:08:09,240 --> 00:08:12,280 Speaker 1: the eye. Please don't do this at home. He thought 138 00:08:12,320 --> 00:08:15,520 Speaker 1: the alloy in his eye would amalgamate with the mercury 139 00:08:15,560 --> 00:08:18,520 Speaker 1: in the cup, which it did. He was able to 140 00:08:18,560 --> 00:08:21,440 Speaker 1: remove all the debris from his eye with repeated treatments 141 00:08:21,480 --> 00:08:25,600 Speaker 1: over the course of about two weeks. Mercury is also toxic, 142 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:30,080 Speaker 1: but most harmful exposures are through ingestion or inhalation. Even 143 00:08:30,200 --> 00:08:35,360 Speaker 1: with that in mind, this just seems no, yeah like that. 144 00:08:35,880 --> 00:08:39,080 Speaker 1: I'm not a particularly squeamish about I stuff, but that 145 00:08:39,320 --> 00:08:41,520 Speaker 1: crosses a line for me. No, don't don't do that. 146 00:08:41,600 --> 00:08:44,400 Speaker 1: Please don't do that. So once the war was over, 147 00:08:44,679 --> 00:08:48,319 Speaker 1: Midley went back to working on the engine knock problem. 148 00:08:48,360 --> 00:08:52,400 Speaker 1: After various attempts and failures, he started systematically working his 149 00:08:52,480 --> 00:08:56,360 Speaker 1: way through the periodic table, trying one element after another. 150 00:08:56,880 --> 00:09:01,080 Speaker 1: He later described this as a fox hunt. On December third, 151 00:09:01,240 --> 00:09:04,600 Speaker 1: ninety one, while working as vice president of General Motors 152 00:09:04,600 --> 00:09:09,040 Speaker 1: Research Laboratories in Dayton, Ohio, Mentally tried tetra ethyl lead. 153 00:09:09,200 --> 00:09:11,880 Speaker 1: That's a compound that was first developed by German chemist 154 00:09:12,000 --> 00:09:17,040 Speaker 1: Carl Jacoblog in eighteen fifty three. Mentally discovered that three 155 00:09:17,160 --> 00:09:20,400 Speaker 1: cubic centimeters of tetrathi lead per gallon of fuel would 156 00:09:20,400 --> 00:09:25,240 Speaker 1: eliminate engine not completely, but it also caused lead oxide 157 00:09:25,240 --> 00:09:28,840 Speaker 1: deposits to form in the engine. He then found that 158 00:09:28,880 --> 00:09:31,880 Speaker 1: adding ethylene bromide to the mix caused all the lead 159 00:09:31,920 --> 00:09:34,839 Speaker 1: to be emitted from the engine as exhaust, preventing the 160 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:39,280 Speaker 1: build up problem. But that presented its own issue, which 161 00:09:39,320 --> 00:09:42,800 Speaker 1: was getting enough broming. Midjeley is credited with solving that 162 00:09:42,960 --> 00:09:46,520 Speaker 1: problem as well figuring out a viable way to extract 163 00:09:46,600 --> 00:09:50,679 Speaker 1: bromine from seawater, where it's present in tiny concentrations, as 164 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:55,680 Speaker 1: in sixty five parts per million. This idea did not 165 00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:59,040 Speaker 1: come out of thin air. Carl Jacob Blowing and French 166 00:09:59,160 --> 00:10:02,720 Speaker 1: chemist and and Jerome Ballard had each discovered the element 167 00:10:02,800 --> 00:10:07,520 Speaker 1: bromine around eighteen. Lowig had found it in water from 168 00:10:07,559 --> 00:10:10,559 Speaker 1: a salt spring, and Billard had to use sea water. 169 00:10:11,440 --> 00:10:14,160 Speaker 1: With a few other tweaks to the formula, the resulting 170 00:10:14,200 --> 00:10:17,440 Speaker 1: fuel was marketed as ethel gasoline, and it was first 171 00:10:17,440 --> 00:10:20,719 Speaker 1: sold to consumers in nine We're going to get back 172 00:10:20,720 --> 00:10:24,520 Speaker 1: into all of that in more detail later. Midgeley's next 173 00:10:24,520 --> 00:10:28,360 Speaker 1: problem to solve was refrigerant gas. At the time, a 174 00:10:28,440 --> 00:10:31,920 Speaker 1: lot of refrigerants were toxic. They included things like ammonia 175 00:10:32,080 --> 00:10:36,439 Speaker 1: and sulfur dioxide, so refrigerant leaks could be lethal, and 176 00:10:36,520 --> 00:10:39,760 Speaker 1: in the nineteen twenties air conditioning was becoming more popular. 177 00:10:39,920 --> 00:10:42,920 Speaker 1: We did a podcast on this back in so there 178 00:10:42,960 --> 00:10:46,560 Speaker 1: was a lot of demand for a safer alternative. Mint 179 00:10:46,640 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 1: Ley again went back to the periodic table, and this 180 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:54,520 Speaker 1: time he focused on fluorine, specifically dichloro difluoro methane. This 181 00:10:54,840 --> 00:10:58,040 Speaker 1: may not have been the first chlorofluora carbon ever made, 182 00:10:58,280 --> 00:11:01,880 Speaker 1: or the first fluorine based pound researched as a refrigerant, 183 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:05,439 Speaker 1: but it was the first to be widely used and marketed, 184 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:08,800 Speaker 1: in this case under the name free On. We will 185 00:11:08,840 --> 00:11:11,000 Speaker 1: also be getting back to free On again later in 186 00:11:11,040 --> 00:11:16,840 Speaker 1: this episode as well. In nineteen forty, Midgeley contracted polio. Afterward, 187 00:11:16,920 --> 00:11:19,959 Speaker 1: his body was partly paralyzed. He started using a wheelchair. 188 00:11:20,840 --> 00:11:24,080 Speaker 1: From nineteen forty to nineteen forty four, he served as 189 00:11:24,240 --> 00:11:28,600 Speaker 1: director and vice president of the Ohio State University Research Foundation, 190 00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:31,800 Speaker 1: and during World War Two he served on the National 191 00:11:31,920 --> 00:11:35,959 Speaker 1: Research Defense Committee and the National Inventors Council. He did 192 00:11:36,000 --> 00:11:38,680 Speaker 1: a lot of work with rubber during World War Two, 193 00:11:38,840 --> 00:11:42,240 Speaker 1: including finding vulcanization methods that could help the country deal 194 00:11:42,280 --> 00:11:46,320 Speaker 1: with a short supply of rubber. Midgley died unexpectedly at 195 00:11:46,360 --> 00:11:49,560 Speaker 1: his home in Worthington, Ohio, in nineteen forty four, at 196 00:11:49,600 --> 00:11:52,720 Speaker 1: the age of fifty five. He had made a lift 197 00:11:52,840 --> 00:11:55,920 Speaker 1: using rope bars and a trapeeze to help him move 198 00:11:56,000 --> 00:11:59,880 Speaker 1: from his bed to his wheelchair and back. On November 199 00:12:00,040 --> 00:12:02,679 Speaker 1: second of that year, he was found entangled in it, 200 00:12:02,800 --> 00:12:06,440 Speaker 1: strangled by the rope. People who knew him seemed to 201 00:12:06,480 --> 00:12:08,920 Speaker 1: have been divided over whether they thought this was an 202 00:12:08,920 --> 00:12:13,520 Speaker 1: accident or intentional. His death certificate lists his cause of 203 00:12:13,559 --> 00:12:17,640 Speaker 1: death as suicide, and after an autopsy, Franklin County Coroner 204 00:12:17,720 --> 00:12:21,720 Speaker 1: John B. Gravis came to the same conclusion. During his 205 00:12:21,800 --> 00:12:24,880 Speaker 1: lifetime and after his death, Thomas Midgley, Jr. Was a 206 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:29,800 Speaker 1: deeply respected researcher and chemist. He received multiple awards from 207 00:12:29,800 --> 00:12:33,920 Speaker 1: the American Chemical Society and the Society of Chemical Industry, 208 00:12:33,960 --> 00:12:39,120 Speaker 1: along with the Franklin Institute's Longstreath Metal and various honorary doctorates. 209 00:12:39,600 --> 00:12:42,040 Speaker 1: He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences, 210 00:12:42,080 --> 00:12:45,520 Speaker 1: the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American 211 00:12:45,640 --> 00:12:50,520 Speaker 1: Chemical Society, the American Institute of Chemical Engineers, the Society 212 00:12:50,559 --> 00:12:55,080 Speaker 1: of Automotive Engineers, and the American Society for Testing Materials. 213 00:12:55,600 --> 00:13:00,679 Speaker 1: And he held a hundred and seventeen patents. And today 214 00:13:00,840 --> 00:13:04,280 Speaker 1: we know that his two most famous inventions were destructive 215 00:13:04,280 --> 00:13:08,760 Speaker 1: to the environment and to human health. Ethel gasoline had 216 00:13:08,800 --> 00:13:12,120 Speaker 1: also come to market in spite of serious concerns about 217 00:13:12,120 --> 00:13:15,120 Speaker 1: its safety, and we will be talking about that after 218 00:13:15,160 --> 00:13:26,920 Speaker 1: we pause for a sponsor break. As we said at 219 00:13:26,960 --> 00:13:30,400 Speaker 1: the top of the show, today leaded gasoline is banned 220 00:13:30,440 --> 00:13:33,360 Speaker 1: around the world, although it still does have a couple 221 00:13:33,400 --> 00:13:37,280 Speaker 1: of limited uses, including in some types of aviation fuel. 222 00:13:37,960 --> 00:13:40,520 Speaker 1: But letted fuel is no longer sold to people just 223 00:13:40,640 --> 00:13:43,560 Speaker 1: gassing up their cars and trucks, at least not legally. 224 00:13:43,960 --> 00:13:48,240 Speaker 1: Most new cars cannot use it. The end of leaded 225 00:13:48,280 --> 00:13:53,480 Speaker 1: gasoline is astonishingly recent, though. Algeria is the last nation 226 00:13:53,559 --> 00:13:56,000 Speaker 1: to use up the last of its leaded gas, and 227 00:13:56,120 --> 00:14:00,600 Speaker 1: that happened in July of one the United The Nation's 228 00:14:00,640 --> 00:14:03,600 Speaker 1: issued a statement that the global phase out of leaded 229 00:14:03,600 --> 00:14:07,280 Speaker 1: gas was finally finished on August of that year, so 230 00:14:07,400 --> 00:14:11,960 Speaker 1: this episode is coming out only a year later. The 231 00:14:12,000 --> 00:14:16,480 Speaker 1: global move away from leaded gasoline took decades. Japan was 232 00:14:16,559 --> 00:14:18,880 Speaker 1: the first nation to ban it, that was in eight 233 00:14:19,640 --> 00:14:23,600 Speaker 1: In the US, the Environmental Protection Agency mandated leaded gasoline 234 00:14:23,600 --> 00:14:26,680 Speaker 1: be phased out in nineteen seventy three, but it didn't 235 00:14:26,680 --> 00:14:29,800 Speaker 1: ban the use of leaded fuel in on road vehicles 236 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:35,800 Speaker 1: until A lot of discussion during that whole process, starting 237 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:38,440 Speaker 1: in the eighties and nineties made it sound like we 238 00:14:38,520 --> 00:14:42,480 Speaker 1: had only just figured out that leaded gasoline was hazardous. 239 00:14:43,320 --> 00:14:47,680 Speaker 1: That was not true. The reason that leaded gasoline was 240 00:14:47,800 --> 00:14:52,040 Speaker 1: first marketed as ethel gasoline was that everybody knew that 241 00:14:52,160 --> 00:14:56,680 Speaker 1: lead was dangerous. Yes, let does have some very important uses, 242 00:14:56,720 --> 00:15:01,440 Speaker 1: including things like radiation shielding, but okay. Nections between lead 243 00:15:01,560 --> 00:15:05,880 Speaker 1: exposure and physical and mental health problems go back thousands 244 00:15:06,000 --> 00:15:10,640 Speaker 1: of years. They were incredibly well documented in medical literature 245 00:15:10,680 --> 00:15:13,920 Speaker 1: by the nineteenth century. We just had our episode on 246 00:15:14,000 --> 00:15:16,520 Speaker 1: Alice Hamilton's, who was one of the founders of the 247 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:20,160 Speaker 1: field of occupational health as a Saturday classic, and her 248 00:15:20,600 --> 00:15:24,280 Speaker 1: groundbreaking work on the hazards of lead exposure in the 249 00:15:24,360 --> 00:15:29,640 Speaker 1: workplace started a decade before Thomas Midley Jr. Tried putting 250 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:33,560 Speaker 1: tetra ethyl lead in gasoline. Tetra ethyl lead was also 251 00:15:33,880 --> 00:15:36,880 Speaker 1: even more hazardous than a lot of other lead compounds 252 00:15:36,960 --> 00:15:41,000 Speaker 1: because it could be inhaled. Midgley and other people connected 253 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:45,119 Speaker 1: to this research were aware of this. Ethel Gasoline Corporation 254 00:15:45,200 --> 00:15:48,720 Speaker 1: was founded in nineteen twenty three, bringing together General Motors, 255 00:15:48,800 --> 00:15:51,080 Speaker 1: which owned the patent on tetra ethyl lead as a 256 00:15:51,080 --> 00:15:55,080 Speaker 1: fuel additive standard oil of New Jersey, and DuPont, which 257 00:15:55,160 --> 00:15:59,560 Speaker 1: ran the manufacturing operation. A year later, Pierre DuPont wrote 258 00:15:59,560 --> 00:16:02,400 Speaker 1: a letter to his brother Irna in which he described 259 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:06,520 Speaker 1: tetrath a lead as quote a colorless liquid of Swedish odor, 260 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:10,880 Speaker 1: very poisonous if absorbed through the skin, resulting in lead 261 00:16:10,880 --> 00:16:15,800 Speaker 1: poisoning almost immediately. Charles Kettering described Midley's work with Ethyl 262 00:16:15,840 --> 00:16:20,400 Speaker 1: Gasoline Corporation as being focused on quote overcoming the prejudice 263 00:16:20,480 --> 00:16:23,240 Speaker 1: against the new product, which arose from the fear that 264 00:16:23,280 --> 00:16:27,760 Speaker 1: the use of leading gasoline would poison people. Yet, Midley 265 00:16:27,840 --> 00:16:31,440 Speaker 1: had to take a month off work in early because 266 00:16:31,440 --> 00:16:34,800 Speaker 1: he had developed acute lead poisoning, and three of his 267 00:16:34,880 --> 00:16:39,800 Speaker 1: co workers reported symptoms of lead poisoning as well. Beyond that, 268 00:16:40,400 --> 00:16:45,120 Speaker 1: Midjeley and Kettering received multiple letters from researchers at prominent 269 00:16:45,200 --> 00:16:50,400 Speaker 1: universities and institutions, including Harvard and Yale, warning them of 270 00:16:50,440 --> 00:16:55,440 Speaker 1: the potential dangers of using lead in gasoline. As one example, 271 00:16:55,520 --> 00:16:59,239 Speaker 1: Dr Eric Krauss at the Institute of Technology and Potsdam, 272 00:16:59,320 --> 00:17:03,360 Speaker 1: Germany had worked extensively with tetrathel lead. He had this 273 00:17:03,480 --> 00:17:07,399 Speaker 1: to say, quote the compounds seem to possess, even in 274 00:17:07,600 --> 00:17:12,760 Speaker 1: very reduced doses, the malicious and creeping poisonous effects which 275 00:17:12,800 --> 00:17:16,800 Speaker 1: are possessed by inorganic lead compounds. They do not produce 276 00:17:16,840 --> 00:17:20,520 Speaker 1: the typical symptoms of lead poisoning, but a slow weakening 277 00:17:20,640 --> 00:17:26,919 Speaker 1: and enfeebling of the whole body, which ultimately results in death. Frequently, 278 00:17:27,000 --> 00:17:31,080 Speaker 1: the effects of poisoning appear only after a long latent period. 279 00:17:31,480 --> 00:17:35,800 Speaker 1: I have used every possible means of precaution. Nevertheless, I 280 00:17:35,840 --> 00:17:39,280 Speaker 1: think that I have severely damaged my health. So he 281 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:41,639 Speaker 1: wrote this in a letter that was forwarded around a 282 00:17:41,640 --> 00:17:44,840 Speaker 1: little bit before being forwarded to midj Ley in December 283 00:17:44,880 --> 00:17:49,359 Speaker 1: of n Despite the well known hazards of lead exposure, 284 00:17:49,800 --> 00:17:53,000 Speaker 1: General Motors wanted to introduce ethel gasoline to the market 285 00:17:53,040 --> 00:17:57,880 Speaker 1: as soon as possible, so production started in nine before 286 00:17:58,000 --> 00:18:01,560 Speaker 1: adequate ventilation and other safety men were installed. At the 287 00:18:01,640 --> 00:18:05,560 Speaker 1: factories where it was being made, workers mixed and moved 288 00:18:05,600 --> 00:18:09,200 Speaker 1: tetrath a lead in open buckets, and one worker described 289 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:13,040 Speaker 1: people using their bare fingers to check its clarity. At 290 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:15,920 Speaker 1: least one worker died in the first month of production, 291 00:18:16,080 --> 00:18:20,359 Speaker 1: and workers nicknamed the product looney gas because working around 292 00:18:20,359 --> 00:18:25,080 Speaker 1: it seemed to cause things like confusion, agitation, sleeplessness, and 293 00:18:25,119 --> 00:18:29,119 Speaker 1: even delirium. Yeah company later claimed this was made up 294 00:18:29,119 --> 00:18:32,359 Speaker 1: by journalists to defame their product when it had really 295 00:18:32,440 --> 00:18:36,639 Speaker 1: been coined by the workers having to produce it. The 296 00:18:36,760 --> 00:18:40,240 Speaker 1: U S Surgeon General requested some testing, and that testing 297 00:18:40,320 --> 00:18:43,880 Speaker 1: started through the Bureau of Minds also in nine three. 298 00:18:44,359 --> 00:18:48,760 Speaker 1: The tests were carried out in collaboration with General Motors. 299 00:18:48,800 --> 00:18:53,399 Speaker 1: They involved exposing various animals to exhaust. The Bureau issued 300 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:57,320 Speaker 1: a report in October of n four describing the risk 301 00:18:57,400 --> 00:19:01,400 Speaker 1: to the public from breathing in this exhaust as negligible. 302 00:19:02,040 --> 00:19:04,840 Speaker 1: But a scathing response to this report was published in 303 00:19:04,880 --> 00:19:08,200 Speaker 1: the Journal of the American Medical Association. One of its 304 00:19:08,280 --> 00:19:12,960 Speaker 1: authors was Alice Hamilton's and it pointed out many flaws 305 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:17,600 Speaker 1: in this research, calling it quote inadequate in scope, in technic, 306 00:19:17,960 --> 00:19:22,480 Speaker 1: and in conclusiveness. Meanwhile, around the same time, the U. S. 307 00:19:22,560 --> 00:19:26,520 Speaker 1: Army Chemical Warfare Service did six months of experiments with 308 00:19:26,560 --> 00:19:29,119 Speaker 1: tetrathe lad to see if it was suitable as a 309 00:19:29,200 --> 00:19:33,639 Speaker 1: chemical warfare agent, and found it to be dangerous. A 310 00:19:33,680 --> 00:19:37,000 Speaker 1: report from Edgewood arsenal. Called it quote probably the only 311 00:19:37,080 --> 00:19:41,200 Speaker 1: compound where acute lead poisoning follows absorption through the skin, 312 00:19:42,200 --> 00:19:45,920 Speaker 1: and describing less than lethal doses having a cumulative effect 313 00:19:46,000 --> 00:19:51,120 Speaker 1: on test subjects. Also in October of nine, the same 314 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:55,119 Speaker 1: month that Bureau of Mine's report came out, seven workers 315 00:19:55,480 --> 00:19:58,639 Speaker 1: died at a standard oil plant in by Way, New Jersey, 316 00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:02,720 Speaker 1: and more than thirty the developed symptoms of acute lead poisoning. 317 00:20:03,200 --> 00:20:08,560 Speaker 1: Some of them developed a lifelong violent psychosis requiring permanent hospitalization. 318 00:20:09,280 --> 00:20:12,200 Speaker 1: Other deaths and cases of lead poisoning took place at 319 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:16,240 Speaker 1: multiple DuPont and GM plants between ninety three and n 320 00:20:17,880 --> 00:20:21,040 Speaker 1: but the companies involved maintained that these were cases of 321 00:20:21,119 --> 00:20:24,919 Speaker 1: worker error or production issues that were then corrected, and 322 00:20:24,960 --> 00:20:28,280 Speaker 1: that improved ventilation and safety procedures would fix the problem 323 00:20:28,280 --> 00:20:32,560 Speaker 1: at the factories. They also maintained that tetra ethyl lead 324 00:20:32,600 --> 00:20:35,520 Speaker 1: was safe at the concentrations that the public would encounter. 325 00:20:36,560 --> 00:20:40,040 Speaker 1: Midgley seemed to genuinely believe this, and at one press 326 00:20:40,080 --> 00:20:44,800 Speaker 1: conference in nineteen four washed his hands in leaded gasoline 327 00:20:45,080 --> 00:20:48,640 Speaker 1: as a safety demonstration, even though he had had lead 328 00:20:48,680 --> 00:20:54,199 Speaker 1: poisoning himself to previous year. Meanwhile, the general public and 329 00:20:54,320 --> 00:20:58,240 Speaker 1: various officials were outraged and alarmed over what was happening 330 00:20:58,280 --> 00:21:01,240 Speaker 1: to workers at the fuel fact reas the state of 331 00:21:01,280 --> 00:21:04,080 Speaker 1: New Jersey, in the cities of New York and Philadelphia 332 00:21:04,200 --> 00:21:08,560 Speaker 1: all banned the sale of leaded gasoline. Kettering and Midgley 333 00:21:08,640 --> 00:21:11,600 Speaker 1: were both removed from their leadership roles at the company 334 00:21:11,600 --> 00:21:15,600 Speaker 1: in April of ninety five, although GM CEO Alfred P. 335 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:19,400 Speaker 1: Sloan was quoted as saying that Midgley quote was entirely 336 00:21:19,480 --> 00:21:24,720 Speaker 1: inexperienced and organization matters kind of implied that this firing 337 00:21:24,840 --> 00:21:28,679 Speaker 1: was unrelated to the backlash against his invention. He's just 338 00:21:28,720 --> 00:21:32,920 Speaker 1: a bad administrator, not a good fit. Uh. They still 339 00:21:32,960 --> 00:21:35,240 Speaker 1: had jobs to the company, they just were not in 340 00:21:35,359 --> 00:21:40,560 Speaker 1: leadership roles anymore. Right. Just after this, Ethel Gasoline Corporation 341 00:21:40,680 --> 00:21:44,320 Speaker 1: suspended the sale of leaded gasoline pending a public health review. 342 00:21:45,200 --> 00:21:48,040 Speaker 1: The U. S. Surgeon General appointed a committee to carry 343 00:21:48,080 --> 00:21:54,000 Speaker 1: this review out during a conference held on the fuel industry, 344 00:21:54,119 --> 00:21:57,800 Speaker 1: maintained that tetrath a led was the best and only 345 00:21:57,880 --> 00:22:01,720 Speaker 1: solution to the knock problem. Of public health experts insisted 346 00:22:01,760 --> 00:22:04,000 Speaker 1: that it was dangerous and that the industry needed to 347 00:22:04,040 --> 00:22:08,640 Speaker 1: find another way. During this conference, Alice Hamilton's reportedly called 348 00:22:08,720 --> 00:22:13,920 Speaker 1: Charles Kettering a murderer. Ultimately, the Surgeon General's Committee reported 349 00:22:13,920 --> 00:22:17,040 Speaker 1: that quote there are at present no good grounds for 350 00:22:17,119 --> 00:22:21,280 Speaker 1: prohibiting the use of ethel gasoline with a composition specified 351 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:25,240 Speaker 1: as a motor fuel, provided that its distribution and use 352 00:22:25,640 --> 00:22:30,360 Speaker 1: are controlled by proper regulation. But the committee also noted 353 00:22:30,680 --> 00:22:33,440 Speaker 1: that this could change with a rise in the number 354 00:22:33,480 --> 00:22:37,680 Speaker 1: of vehicles on the road and recommended further studies supervised 355 00:22:37,720 --> 00:22:41,000 Speaker 1: by the Surgeon General to account for these shifts and 356 00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:44,800 Speaker 1: how much leaded gasoline was actually being used. Those follow 357 00:22:44,880 --> 00:22:48,199 Speaker 1: up studies didn't happen, though, and according to the Department 358 00:22:48,200 --> 00:22:51,719 Speaker 1: of Transportation, the number of registered motor vehicles in the 359 00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:56,679 Speaker 1: United States roughly doubled over the next two decades. Ethel 360 00:22:56,680 --> 00:23:01,680 Speaker 1: gasoline returned to market on May sixty six. Over that 361 00:23:01,800 --> 00:23:05,360 Speaker 1: year long pause, the Ethyl Gasoline Corporation and DuPont had 362 00:23:05,440 --> 00:23:10,359 Speaker 1: made safety changes and ventilation upgrades at their factories. Thanks 363 00:23:10,359 --> 00:23:14,040 Speaker 1: to strict manufacturing and distribution rules, the following years did 364 00:23:14,040 --> 00:23:17,120 Speaker 1: not see the kinds of deaths and injuries to workers 365 00:23:17,119 --> 00:23:20,840 Speaker 1: that had taken place earlier. In the nineteen twenties, leaded 366 00:23:20,880 --> 00:23:23,960 Speaker 1: gasoline became standard in much of the world. By nine 367 00:23:24,240 --> 00:23:27,879 Speaker 1: thirty six, it made up of the gasoline sold in 368 00:23:27,920 --> 00:23:32,480 Speaker 1: the United States. The Surgeon General also approved an increase 369 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:35,640 Speaker 1: in the amount of tetrath a lad in gasoline from 370 00:23:35,680 --> 00:23:39,800 Speaker 1: three million leads per gallont to four in nineteen fifty nine. 371 00:23:40,400 --> 00:23:44,760 Speaker 1: A few years later, a widespread movement against leaded gasoline 372 00:23:44,760 --> 00:23:48,280 Speaker 1: started to evolve in the United States and worldwide. This 373 00:23:48,440 --> 00:23:51,560 Speaker 1: was inspired in part by Rachel Carson's nineteen sixty two 374 00:23:51,600 --> 00:23:55,760 Speaker 1: Silent Spring and that book's influence on the environmental movement. 375 00:23:56,440 --> 00:24:00,760 Speaker 1: Another factor was a series of deadly small incidents that 376 00:24:00,800 --> 00:24:03,879 Speaker 1: had taken place in multiple cities around the world starting 377 00:24:03,880 --> 00:24:08,200 Speaker 1: around the nineteen thirties. This included the Great London Smog 378 00:24:08,359 --> 00:24:11,040 Speaker 1: and the Dinora Smog, both of which we have covered 379 00:24:11,080 --> 00:24:15,399 Speaker 1: on the show before. An increasing body of scientific work 380 00:24:15,480 --> 00:24:19,320 Speaker 1: suggested that air pollution was a serious threat to people's health. 381 00:24:19,840 --> 00:24:24,080 Speaker 1: Research and multiple cities also found high levels of lead 382 00:24:24,240 --> 00:24:27,080 Speaker 1: in the air, with public health research going on at 383 00:24:27,080 --> 00:24:31,440 Speaker 1: the same time suggesting that lead was harming people. There's 384 00:24:31,440 --> 00:24:35,720 Speaker 1: actually a whole hypothesis that the increase in atmospheric lead 385 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:38,440 Speaker 1: in the middle of the twentieth century contributed to an 386 00:24:38,480 --> 00:24:41,840 Speaker 1: increase in crime in the United States in the nineteen seventies, 387 00:24:42,119 --> 00:24:45,439 Speaker 1: and that the ban on leaded fuel then contributed to 388 00:24:45,560 --> 00:24:49,000 Speaker 1: a drop in crime rates starting in the nineteen nineties. 389 00:24:49,280 --> 00:24:51,760 Speaker 1: That is very hard to pin down specifically because a 390 00:24:51,760 --> 00:24:54,600 Speaker 1: lot of other stuff was happening across those same years, 391 00:24:54,640 --> 00:24:56,879 Speaker 1: But at the same time, it was very obviously clear 392 00:24:57,280 --> 00:24:59,879 Speaker 1: that inhaling a bunch of lead all the time was 393 00:25:00,000 --> 00:25:03,760 Speaker 1: causing problems, and it was causing most problems for often 394 00:25:03,840 --> 00:25:07,000 Speaker 1: the poorest people who were living in really congested parts 395 00:25:07,040 --> 00:25:13,760 Speaker 1: of cities. It's infuriating. Nations started passing anti pollution and 396 00:25:13,800 --> 00:25:17,440 Speaker 1: clean air legislation, including things like the Clean Air Act 397 00:25:17,480 --> 00:25:21,840 Speaker 1: of nineteen seventy in the United States. These laws included 398 00:25:21,920 --> 00:25:25,080 Speaker 1: things like mandatory reductions in the amount of pollutants in 399 00:25:25,160 --> 00:25:28,879 Speaker 1: car exhaust. In the US, the specific focus was a 400 00:25:28,920 --> 00:25:33,880 Speaker 1: reduction in carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides, and other hydrocarbons, which 401 00:25:33,960 --> 00:25:38,040 Speaker 1: led to the development of the catalytic converter. The catalytic 402 00:25:38,080 --> 00:25:42,439 Speaker 1: converter reduced those pollutants in car exhaust, but it also 403 00:25:42,560 --> 00:25:45,200 Speaker 1: could not be used in a car that was running 404 00:25:45,240 --> 00:25:48,520 Speaker 1: on leaded gasoline because the lead in the gasoline would 405 00:25:48,520 --> 00:25:52,200 Speaker 1: destroy the catalysts in the converter. So from the car 406 00:25:52,240 --> 00:25:55,919 Speaker 1: industry's perspective, that was a much bigger driver in the 407 00:25:56,000 --> 00:26:00,359 Speaker 1: phase out of leaded gasoline than leads dangers to public health. 408 00:26:00,960 --> 00:26:04,280 Speaker 1: GM announced that catalytic converters would be installed in all 409 00:26:04,320 --> 00:26:07,960 Speaker 1: of its new automobiles in nineteen seventy. General Motors and 410 00:26:08,000 --> 00:26:11,480 Speaker 1: the Standard Oil had already sold Ethel Corporation by that point. 411 00:26:11,600 --> 00:26:15,919 Speaker 1: That happened in nineteen sixty two. Letted gasoline was gradually 412 00:26:15,920 --> 00:26:18,600 Speaker 1: phased out and banned around the world over the decades 413 00:26:18,640 --> 00:26:23,560 Speaker 1: that followed, although there were exceptions. In general, wealthy countries 414 00:26:23,640 --> 00:26:26,879 Speaker 1: made the switch first, while leaded gasoline continued to be 415 00:26:26,960 --> 00:26:29,960 Speaker 1: marketed and sold in other parts of the world, with 416 00:26:30,119 --> 00:26:33,080 Speaker 1: most of the last nations to make the switch being 417 00:26:33,119 --> 00:26:37,280 Speaker 1: in the Middle East and Africa. The UN Environment Program 418 00:26:37,359 --> 00:26:40,800 Speaker 1: started a campaign to eliminate leaded gas worldwide in two 419 00:26:40,800 --> 00:26:42,840 Speaker 1: thousand two, and as we said at the top of 420 00:26:42,840 --> 00:26:45,959 Speaker 1: the show, that was finally accomplished just last year, as 421 00:26:45,960 --> 00:26:51,639 Speaker 1: we're recording this in and one last infuriating thing before 422 00:26:51,640 --> 00:26:55,399 Speaker 1: we move on. Tetra ethel lad wasn't the only anti 423 00:26:55,520 --> 00:26:58,840 Speaker 1: knock agent being evaluated in the United States in the 424 00:26:58,960 --> 00:27:04,040 Speaker 1: nineteen twenties. Another was ethyl alcohol or ethanol, which is 425 00:27:04,040 --> 00:27:07,919 Speaker 1: the most unleaded gasoline today and was actually already in 426 00:27:08,040 --> 00:27:10,679 Speaker 1: use in some parts of the world while leaded gasoline 427 00:27:10,720 --> 00:27:14,840 Speaker 1: was being developed. Thomas Midley Jr. And Thomas Boyd looked 428 00:27:14,920 --> 00:27:18,199 Speaker 1: into ethanol in the nineteen twenties. They knew that in 429 00:27:18,240 --> 00:27:20,800 Speaker 1: a lot of ways it was superior to tetra ethyl 430 00:27:20,880 --> 00:27:24,679 Speaker 1: lead that had similar anti knock properties, and since it 431 00:27:24,760 --> 00:27:28,440 Speaker 1: was made from fermenting sugars or grains, it was renewable. 432 00:27:29,240 --> 00:27:33,760 Speaker 1: Ethanol can certainly have negative health effects. Ethanol is what's 433 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:37,080 Speaker 1: in alcoholic beverages. We know there are risks that come 434 00:27:37,080 --> 00:27:40,320 Speaker 1: along with that, but as a fuel additive, it is 435 00:27:40,359 --> 00:27:45,440 Speaker 1: not nearly as toxic as lead. But this was also 436 00:27:45,520 --> 00:27:49,880 Speaker 1: during the Prohibition era, and although industrial alcohol wasn't prohibited, 437 00:27:50,440 --> 00:27:54,600 Speaker 1: this still presented some challenges. General motors also had a 438 00:27:54,680 --> 00:27:57,560 Speaker 1: patent on tetrath a lead as a fuel additive, but 439 00:27:57,720 --> 00:28:00,760 Speaker 1: not on ethanol, meaning there was a lot more profit 440 00:28:00,800 --> 00:28:05,160 Speaker 1: potential for the company with leaded gasoline. The petroleum industry 441 00:28:05,240 --> 00:28:09,360 Speaker 1: was also concerned about the possibility of ethanol overtaking petroleum 442 00:28:09,400 --> 00:28:13,280 Speaker 1: as a fuel source, so through all the controversy and 443 00:28:13,359 --> 00:28:16,959 Speaker 1: hearings in the nineteen twenties, fuel companies were insisting that 444 00:28:17,000 --> 00:28:20,600 Speaker 1: there was no alternative to lead, even though they knew 445 00:28:20,640 --> 00:28:24,959 Speaker 1: that there was. So let's take a break and maybe 446 00:28:25,000 --> 00:28:28,920 Speaker 1: go find a pillow to scream into, because that was infuriating. 447 00:28:38,360 --> 00:28:42,360 Speaker 1: The story of Thomas Midgley Junior's development of dichloro di 448 00:28:42,480 --> 00:28:46,320 Speaker 1: flora methane or free on and its eventual phasing out 449 00:28:46,480 --> 00:28:49,800 Speaker 1: is somewhat less infuriating, at least to me than the 450 00:28:49,880 --> 00:28:53,400 Speaker 1: tucher at the lead saga, because the damaging effects of 451 00:28:53,520 --> 00:28:57,160 Speaker 1: free on were not known until long after his death, 452 00:28:57,240 --> 00:29:00,560 Speaker 1: and the response to finding out about how imaging it 453 00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:04,600 Speaker 1: was was a lot quicker while he was living, free 454 00:29:04,680 --> 00:29:08,320 Speaker 1: on really did seem like a vastly better option than 455 00:29:08,360 --> 00:29:12,520 Speaker 1: the toxic or flammable gases that were in use as refrigerants. 456 00:29:13,160 --> 00:29:17,320 Speaker 1: For example, in nineteen twenty nine, several people died as 457 00:29:17,320 --> 00:29:20,960 Speaker 1: a direct result of refrigerant leaks, including a cluster of 458 00:29:20,960 --> 00:29:25,280 Speaker 1: incidents in Chicago. Sometimes this is cited as the reason 459 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:28,400 Speaker 1: that Midgley was looking for a better refrigerant, but he 460 00:29:28,480 --> 00:29:32,320 Speaker 1: actually developed free On in nine. That work was not 461 00:29:32,360 --> 00:29:36,160 Speaker 1: announced until nineteen thirty, though, so that may be partially 462 00:29:36,560 --> 00:29:40,480 Speaker 1: to blame for the confusion about why he started working 463 00:29:40,480 --> 00:29:44,560 Speaker 1: on it. Midgley's actual process for making this discovery is 464 00:29:44,560 --> 00:29:47,640 Speaker 1: a little bit vague. He was working at GM, which 465 00:29:47,640 --> 00:29:50,040 Speaker 1: owned frigid Air, and frigid Air was looking for a 466 00:29:50,040 --> 00:29:54,719 Speaker 1: new refrigerant. Midgley reportedly developed free On as a refrigerant 467 00:29:54,840 --> 00:29:58,360 Speaker 1: over the span of only three days. He was focused 468 00:29:58,400 --> 00:30:03,000 Speaker 1: on compounds that included aureene, starting with carbon tetrafluoride. He 469 00:30:03,200 --> 00:30:06,360 Speaker 1: thought it was promising because if it's boiling point of 470 00:30:06,480 --> 00:30:11,080 Speaker 1: minus one seven point eight celsius. He also looked at 471 00:30:11,120 --> 00:30:15,400 Speaker 1: at least one other chlorofluora carbon that was dichloro mono 472 00:30:15,480 --> 00:30:20,840 Speaker 1: flora methane before focusing on dichloro diflora methane. That chloro 473 00:30:20,880 --> 00:30:25,240 Speaker 1: diflora methane was marketed as free On twelve. Similarly, to 474 00:30:25,280 --> 00:30:30,320 Speaker 1: the establishment of Ethel Gasoline Corporation. Kinetic Chemicals was founded 475 00:30:30,360 --> 00:30:34,000 Speaker 1: to manufacture this substance. That was through a partnership between 476 00:30:34,080 --> 00:30:39,160 Speaker 1: General Motors and DuPont. Midgley became one of the company's directors. 477 00:30:39,800 --> 00:30:44,080 Speaker 1: Soon Freon was being widely used in refrigerators and in 478 00:30:44,120 --> 00:30:47,600 Speaker 1: the first home air conditioners. Again, there's more on that 479 00:30:47,680 --> 00:30:50,080 Speaker 1: in our History of air Conditioning episode that came out 480 00:30:50,080 --> 00:30:54,600 Speaker 1: in August of Based on what was known at the time, 481 00:30:55,120 --> 00:30:59,560 Speaker 1: freon was unquestionably better than other alternatives. It was non flammable, 482 00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:04,400 Speaker 1: non top toxic, stable, and essentially odorless. Midgley would demonstrated 483 00:31:04,480 --> 00:31:07,920 Speaker 1: safety by inhaling a big lungful of it and exhaling 484 00:31:07,960 --> 00:31:11,160 Speaker 1: it to blow out a candle, something that probably would 485 00:31:11,160 --> 00:31:13,840 Speaker 1: have seriously injured or killed him if he tried it 486 00:31:13,880 --> 00:31:17,760 Speaker 1: with earlier refrigerants. That doesn't mean it was a great idea. 487 00:31:18,040 --> 00:31:22,680 Speaker 1: We've already established that he intentionally exposed himself to things 488 00:31:22,760 --> 00:31:27,800 Speaker 1: to demonstrate their safety when it wasn't necessarily safe. Other 489 00:31:27,920 --> 00:31:33,560 Speaker 1: chlorofluoro carbons and hydrochlorofluorocarbons, or CFCs and h CFCs followed, 490 00:31:34,000 --> 00:31:38,080 Speaker 1: along with other applications for them. During World War Two, 491 00:31:38,160 --> 00:31:43,880 Speaker 1: freon was found to be particularly effective for dispersing insect repellents. Soon, 492 00:31:43,960 --> 00:31:47,880 Speaker 1: CFCs are being used as propellants in things like hairsprays. 493 00:31:48,840 --> 00:31:53,240 Speaker 1: At this point, scientists knew the ozone layer existed. Charles 494 00:31:53,240 --> 00:31:55,880 Speaker 1: Fabri and Enrie Bouisson had measured it for the first 495 00:31:55,880 --> 00:32:00,600 Speaker 1: time in nineteen sixteen. They and others started studying in 496 00:32:00,680 --> 00:32:04,840 Speaker 1: and in nineteen fifty six scientists started taking ongoing measurements 497 00:32:04,880 --> 00:32:08,760 Speaker 1: at the Halley Bay Observatory on Antarctica. The rise of 498 00:32:08,840 --> 00:32:11,800 Speaker 1: things like commercial air travel and the space Race led 499 00:32:11,840 --> 00:32:15,000 Speaker 1: to a bigger focus on the ozone layer, as researchers 500 00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:18,400 Speaker 1: wondered whether emissions from those vehicles would affect the atmosphere. 501 00:32:19,440 --> 00:32:22,840 Speaker 1: By the nineteen seventies, data from the Halle Bay Observatory 502 00:32:22,960 --> 00:32:27,560 Speaker 1: and from satellites showed that the ozone layer was being depleted, 503 00:32:28,040 --> 00:32:31,760 Speaker 1: but it wasn't yet clear why. Then, in nineteen seventy four, 504 00:32:31,880 --> 00:32:35,280 Speaker 1: Mario Molina and F. Sherwood Roland published a paper in 505 00:32:35,320 --> 00:32:41,120 Speaker 1: the journal Nature titled Stratospheric sync for chlorofluoro methanes chlorine 506 00:32:41,200 --> 00:32:47,720 Speaker 1: ADAM catalyzed destruction of ozone. This paper explained that chlorofluoro methanes, 507 00:32:47,760 --> 00:32:54,600 Speaker 1: which are a type of hydrochlorofluoro carbon destroyed atmospheric ozone. 508 00:32:54,640 --> 00:32:57,840 Speaker 1: Molina and Roland were awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 509 00:32:57,880 --> 00:33:00,640 Speaker 1: for this work, along with Paul kritz And, whose work 510 00:33:00,720 --> 00:33:04,480 Speaker 1: was focused on the ozone depleting ability of nitrogen oxides. 511 00:33:05,560 --> 00:33:08,480 Speaker 1: Although air and space travel had been seen as potential 512 00:33:08,520 --> 00:33:12,720 Speaker 1: threats before this point, this research revealed that common household 513 00:33:12,720 --> 00:33:18,160 Speaker 1: products were a serious problem. CFCs and HCFC's uses propellants 514 00:33:18,160 --> 00:33:21,840 Speaker 1: in spray bottles, in refrigerators and air conditioning systems, and 515 00:33:22,160 --> 00:33:26,840 Speaker 1: in plastic foams. These compounds were both inert and volatile, 516 00:33:26,960 --> 00:33:30,720 Speaker 1: which meant they could be carried high into the atmosphere unchanged. 517 00:33:31,400 --> 00:33:34,400 Speaker 1: Once they were there, though, UV light broke them down, 518 00:33:34,560 --> 00:33:38,200 Speaker 1: releasing chlorine into the upper atmosphere, where it acted as 519 00:33:38,200 --> 00:33:42,120 Speaker 1: a catalyst to break down the ozone layer. Molina and 520 00:33:42,240 --> 00:33:46,160 Speaker 1: Roland predicted that if CFC use continued at the rate 521 00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:49,239 Speaker 1: that it was going, eventually the ozone layer would be 522 00:33:49,480 --> 00:33:53,600 Speaker 1: entirely depleted. The ozone layer helps protect the Earth from 523 00:33:53,720 --> 00:33:57,880 Speaker 1: UV radiation, and without it, experts predicted sharp increases in 524 00:33:58,000 --> 00:34:02,120 Speaker 1: things like cataracts and atal skin cancers, as well as 525 00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:05,640 Speaker 1: damage to crops and ecosystems that are sensitive to UV light. 526 00:34:06,360 --> 00:34:09,320 Speaker 1: This was caused for alarm, and some places started putting 527 00:34:09,360 --> 00:34:13,120 Speaker 1: limits on CFC's and h CFC's In the nineteen seventies 528 00:34:13,160 --> 00:34:17,759 Speaker 1: and early eighties, a conference was also convened in Vienna, Austria, 529 00:34:17,840 --> 00:34:22,360 Speaker 1: and on March twenty two, twenty nations signed the Vienna 530 00:34:22,400 --> 00:34:26,400 Speaker 1: Convention for the Protection of the Ozone Layer. This included 531 00:34:26,480 --> 00:34:29,000 Speaker 1: most of the nations where most of the world CFCs 532 00:34:29,040 --> 00:34:32,600 Speaker 1: were being produced. This convention set up a framework for 533 00:34:32,719 --> 00:34:36,080 Speaker 1: nations to work together to try to address this problem. 534 00:34:36,120 --> 00:34:40,040 Speaker 1: It focused on things like information sharing and research, rather 535 00:34:40,080 --> 00:34:42,759 Speaker 1: than on taking specific actions to keep the layer from 536 00:34:42,760 --> 00:34:47,759 Speaker 1: depleting any further. On May one, five, a team led 537 00:34:47,800 --> 00:34:51,560 Speaker 1: by Joseph Farman at the British Antarctic Survey published another 538 00:34:51,680 --> 00:34:55,120 Speaker 1: paper in the journal Nature, this one reporting that the 539 00:34:55,160 --> 00:35:01,280 Speaker 1: ozone layer over Antarctica was already significantly depleted. This depletion 540 00:35:01,480 --> 00:35:05,080 Speaker 1: was so dramatic that Farming at first thought his instruments 541 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:10,160 Speaker 1: were malfunctioning. This heavily depleted area over Antarctica became known 542 00:35:10,239 --> 00:35:13,480 Speaker 1: as the Whole in the Ozone Layer, but there were 543 00:35:13,520 --> 00:35:18,600 Speaker 1: other proposed causes for this depletion besides CFCs and h CFCs, 544 00:35:18,960 --> 00:35:21,360 Speaker 1: and additional research had to be done to confirm what 545 00:35:21,480 --> 00:35:26,960 Speaker 1: was going on. Then, in the Antarctic Airborne Ozone Expedition 546 00:35:27,000 --> 00:35:30,480 Speaker 1: took measurements high in the atmosphere which showed that if 547 00:35:30,520 --> 00:35:33,360 Speaker 1: there was more chlorine monoxide in an area, there was 548 00:35:33,480 --> 00:35:37,560 Speaker 1: also less ozone. So it was clear that global action 549 00:35:37,680 --> 00:35:41,080 Speaker 1: was needed to reduce the production and use of ozone 550 00:35:41,120 --> 00:35:46,399 Speaker 1: depleting substances like CFCs and h CFCs. Building on that 551 00:35:46,440 --> 00:35:48,960 Speaker 1: framework that had been set up in the Vienna Convention, 552 00:35:49,480 --> 00:35:54,680 Speaker 1: nations came together again, this time in Montreal. In on 553 00:35:54,800 --> 00:35:59,000 Speaker 1: September six of that year, forty six countries signed on 554 00:35:59,080 --> 00:36:01,600 Speaker 1: to the international treaty that came to be known as 555 00:36:01,600 --> 00:36:06,520 Speaker 1: the Montreal Protocol. Its terms included a phasing out of 556 00:36:06,560 --> 00:36:10,960 Speaker 1: the production and use of several types of ozone depleting chemicals, 557 00:36:11,000 --> 00:36:14,480 Speaker 1: setting a target of reducing them to fifty of nine 558 00:36:15,360 --> 00:36:21,080 Speaker 1: levels by less wealthy countries were allowed a grace period 559 00:36:21,120 --> 00:36:24,160 Speaker 1: to make the transition, and since then the treaty has 560 00:36:24,200 --> 00:36:29,480 Speaker 1: been amended to completely ban a range of ozone depleting substances. 561 00:36:30,280 --> 00:36:33,560 Speaker 1: The Vienna Convention in the Montreal Protocol are the only 562 00:36:33,640 --> 00:36:36,960 Speaker 1: international treaties that have been signed by every member state 563 00:36:37,000 --> 00:36:41,799 Speaker 1: of the United Nations. Many ozone depleting substances were completely 564 00:36:41,800 --> 00:36:44,239 Speaker 1: phased out around the world in the nineteen nineties and 565 00:36:44,280 --> 00:36:47,520 Speaker 1: early two thousands, and the few that remain are scheduled 566 00:36:47,560 --> 00:36:51,240 Speaker 1: to be phased out by twenty forty. The ozone layer 567 00:36:51,280 --> 00:36:54,120 Speaker 1: has already started to recover, and it is estimated that 568 00:36:54,160 --> 00:36:57,839 Speaker 1: it will be entirely restored by twenty fifty. So when 569 00:36:57,840 --> 00:37:00,719 Speaker 1: you hear somebody say something like, remember when everybody was 570 00:37:00,800 --> 00:37:03,480 Speaker 1: freaking out about the ozone layer, and now we never 571 00:37:03,600 --> 00:37:06,680 Speaker 1: hear a thing about that anymore, kind of implying that 572 00:37:06,760 --> 00:37:09,440 Speaker 1: it was some kind of manufactured panic, and maybe we 573 00:37:09,480 --> 00:37:14,480 Speaker 1: can just disregard other alarming reports about things like climate change. 574 00:37:15,000 --> 00:37:18,360 Speaker 1: The reason we don't hear about it anymore is because 575 00:37:18,360 --> 00:37:21,560 Speaker 1: the world actually came together to take action to address 576 00:37:21,680 --> 00:37:28,239 Speaker 1: and fix this problem. Definitively, it can be done. It 577 00:37:28,280 --> 00:37:31,240 Speaker 1: can especially be done when there are alternatives that exist 578 00:37:31,280 --> 00:37:33,799 Speaker 1: that are maybe only a little bit more expensive, and 579 00:37:33,880 --> 00:37:36,719 Speaker 1: you don't have an entire industry is spreading a whole 580 00:37:36,719 --> 00:37:40,960 Speaker 1: lot of disinformation saying the climate change isn't real? What 581 00:37:42,040 --> 00:37:49,319 Speaker 1: that's crazy? Hey, do you have a listener? Uh? This 582 00:37:49,400 --> 00:37:53,080 Speaker 1: listener mail is from Abbey, who sents a note that 583 00:37:53,239 --> 00:37:59,200 Speaker 1: is titled O MG diarial man and Abby started by 584 00:37:59,200 --> 00:38:02,239 Speaker 1: saying dearest, just oriens and then the first paragraph of 585 00:38:02,239 --> 00:38:05,680 Speaker 1: the email has some various personal details, but Abby talks 586 00:38:05,719 --> 00:38:08,760 Speaker 1: about wanting to be a history major. But because Abby's 587 00:38:08,800 --> 00:38:13,600 Speaker 1: parents assumed that history majors all became teachers um and 588 00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:15,920 Speaker 1: did not think that Abby would have the patients to 589 00:38:15,960 --> 00:38:20,360 Speaker 1: really be a teacher, they discouraged that line of education. 590 00:38:20,920 --> 00:38:24,480 Speaker 1: But now Abby has become a a an avid listener 591 00:38:24,520 --> 00:38:27,800 Speaker 1: to the podcast. So now on to the actional actual 592 00:38:27,840 --> 00:38:30,680 Speaker 1: reason I'm writing. I've been a pharmacist for the last 593 00:38:30,680 --> 00:38:33,279 Speaker 1: fifteen years, both at the at a retail pharmacy and 594 00:38:33,360 --> 00:38:36,520 Speaker 1: now as a hospital pharmacist. While I was in school, 595 00:38:36,600 --> 00:38:39,280 Speaker 1: I discovered a way to meld my love of science 596 00:38:39,280 --> 00:38:43,960 Speaker 1: and history by studying medical history. My university actually had 597 00:38:44,040 --> 00:38:47,600 Speaker 1: a History of Pharmacy elective, and it was taught by 598 00:38:47,600 --> 00:38:51,200 Speaker 1: the most delightful professor ever. Addition to being a PhD 599 00:38:51,239 --> 00:38:53,720 Speaker 1: in pharmaceutics and a pharmacist, he was also a veteran 600 00:38:53,760 --> 00:38:56,120 Speaker 1: of World War One. He was a pharmacist in the 601 00:38:56,160 --> 00:38:58,640 Speaker 1: Battle of the Bulge. I love to hear his stories 602 00:38:58,680 --> 00:39:01,520 Speaker 1: of pharmacy during the war, especially the way the army 603 00:39:01,640 --> 00:39:05,760 Speaker 1: recycled penicillin to share with the French civilians. This professor 604 00:39:05,840 --> 00:39:09,560 Speaker 1: introduced me to the wonders of medical history items available 605 00:39:09,600 --> 00:39:12,200 Speaker 1: on eBay, and gave me my first antique medical books. 606 00:39:12,200 --> 00:39:15,600 Speaker 1: Since then, my collection has grown to fill several bookshelves 607 00:39:15,640 --> 00:39:18,480 Speaker 1: and photos covering the walls of my office. When you 608 00:39:18,520 --> 00:39:22,240 Speaker 1: mentioned the diarial man and the hypertension episode, I literally 609 00:39:22,320 --> 00:39:25,479 Speaker 1: jumped up from my sewing machine. I'm a nerdy quilter too, 610 00:39:25,520 --> 00:39:28,160 Speaker 1: and went directly to the internet. I'm proud to say 611 00:39:28,200 --> 00:39:30,200 Speaker 1: I found one, and he's on his way to me now. 612 00:39:30,320 --> 00:39:33,400 Speaker 1: Although drug companies have stopped making and sharing chatzky in 613 00:39:33,440 --> 00:39:36,239 Speaker 1: the last ten or fifteen years, I always loved when 614 00:39:36,320 --> 00:39:39,320 Speaker 1: we would get a new set of fancy drug pens, 615 00:39:39,800 --> 00:39:43,560 Speaker 1: notepads or counting trays. My favorite item I've collected was 616 00:39:43,600 --> 00:39:46,160 Speaker 1: a pen for the little blue pill that folded in half, 617 00:39:46,160 --> 00:39:47,840 Speaker 1: and when you needed to use it, you pushed a 618 00:39:47,880 --> 00:39:50,200 Speaker 1: button on the end and it very comically flipped open 619 00:39:50,239 --> 00:39:53,400 Speaker 1: in a rather slow and hilarious manner. I'm sure that 620 00:39:53,520 --> 00:39:56,040 Speaker 1: someone on the Fiser marketing team was very proud of 621 00:39:56,080 --> 00:39:58,560 Speaker 1: that one. I'm not sure if I should thank you 622 00:39:58,640 --> 00:40:01,200 Speaker 1: or not for educating me on the possibility to expand 623 00:40:01,200 --> 00:40:05,040 Speaker 1: my collection to include drug rep paraphnalia or not, but 624 00:40:05,080 --> 00:40:06,880 Speaker 1: I'm now on the hunt for other antique findes like 625 00:40:06,920 --> 00:40:09,360 Speaker 1: dire ol Man. I also want to thank you for 626 00:40:09,400 --> 00:40:12,160 Speaker 1: the rabies episode earlier this year. Thank you for sharing 627 00:40:12,200 --> 00:40:15,000 Speaker 1: the stories of why we pretty much treat anyone who 628 00:40:15,040 --> 00:40:18,120 Speaker 1: comes in contact with bats in the US. I made 629 00:40:18,120 --> 00:40:20,840 Speaker 1: sure to share the information with the pharmacy staff because 630 00:40:20,920 --> 00:40:23,880 Speaker 1: my hospital has several emergency room visits every year for 631 00:40:24,000 --> 00:40:27,680 Speaker 1: bat exposures and we almost always end up administering rabies 632 00:40:27,760 --> 00:40:32,480 Speaker 1: vaccines and immune globulin shots. It was always crazy to 633 00:40:32,520 --> 00:40:35,040 Speaker 1: my fellow pharmacists and me about why so many people 634 00:40:35,080 --> 00:40:36,880 Speaker 1: go to the e er when they just have a 635 00:40:36,960 --> 00:40:39,520 Speaker 1: bat in their house or they accidentally touched a dead 636 00:40:39,520 --> 00:40:43,240 Speaker 1: bat outside. We often thought people were being overly dramatic, 637 00:40:43,320 --> 00:40:45,600 Speaker 1: especially when we had a family of eight come in 638 00:40:45,719 --> 00:40:48,839 Speaker 1: and all needed treatment because we had to call all 639 00:40:48,960 --> 00:40:51,399 Speaker 1: over the state to get enough vaccine. While I can 640 00:40:51,440 --> 00:40:54,520 Speaker 1: confirm that the rabies series is a lot of vaccinations 641 00:40:54,520 --> 00:40:57,400 Speaker 1: for of them over fourteen days. The urban legend stories 642 00:40:57,440 --> 00:40:59,520 Speaker 1: of the need to use giant needles for shots and 643 00:40:59,560 --> 00:41:02,799 Speaker 1: the bellies false. But it is quite uncomfortable when there 644 00:41:02,840 --> 00:41:05,160 Speaker 1: is a bite because we have to inject the immune 645 00:41:05,200 --> 00:41:08,640 Speaker 1: globulin and small amounts all around the bite location. It 646 00:41:08,760 --> 00:41:11,200 Speaker 1: doss of immune globulin are based on the patient's wait. 647 00:41:11,320 --> 00:41:13,560 Speaker 1: It can sometimes end up being a lot of pokes. 648 00:41:14,360 --> 00:41:17,160 Speaker 1: Apologies for such a long email, but I have attached 649 00:41:17,280 --> 00:41:24,960 Speaker 1: kitty pictures as penance. Uh, these kiddies are adornable. Um, 650 00:41:25,120 --> 00:41:27,680 Speaker 1: since as we said, Abby is the pharmacist. These are 651 00:41:27,800 --> 00:41:35,040 Speaker 1: named after antibiotics. Um, there's I'm gonna say this strong 652 00:41:35,160 --> 00:41:38,600 Speaker 1: moxic flu accin. It's probably right, moxie. And that's a 653 00:41:38,600 --> 00:41:40,839 Speaker 1: great tabby. Oh no, that's an orange tabby. And then 654 00:41:40,840 --> 00:41:44,759 Speaker 1: the great tabby is linkomycin or link Um. I love 655 00:41:44,920 --> 00:41:48,919 Speaker 1: naming naming the kiddies after antibiotics. I think that's great. 656 00:41:48,920 --> 00:41:53,120 Speaker 1: So number one, I got this email and I love that. 657 00:41:53,200 --> 00:41:55,879 Speaker 1: Somebody else was like, I'm gonna go get a direal man, 658 00:41:55,920 --> 00:41:58,160 Speaker 1: and I'm I'm like our email sellers, like, why is 659 00:41:58,200 --> 00:42:04,960 Speaker 1: everybody's side like what, I love my diarial man Yeah, 660 00:42:05,040 --> 00:42:08,719 Speaker 1: Holly already got a direl man um. The other thing 661 00:42:09,000 --> 00:42:11,799 Speaker 1: was I had to go look up and see how 662 00:42:11,840 --> 00:42:16,000 Speaker 1: the army recycled penicillin. I had an idea in my 663 00:42:16,080 --> 00:42:18,680 Speaker 1: head of how probably that happened, and that idea was 664 00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:21,520 Speaker 1: the correct idea. And I'm not going to go into 665 00:42:21,600 --> 00:42:24,600 Speaker 1: detail about it right now because it's a little gross 666 00:42:24,640 --> 00:42:28,160 Speaker 1: for more squeamish people. But I realized, even though I 667 00:42:28,160 --> 00:42:31,040 Speaker 1: was sure we had like a penicillin episode, I don't 668 00:42:31,080 --> 00:42:35,319 Speaker 1: actually think we do. We have other antibiotic stuff. I'll 669 00:42:35,360 --> 00:42:37,960 Speaker 1: double check. If we don't have a penicillin episode, we 670 00:42:38,040 --> 00:42:44,960 Speaker 1: probably should because the oversimplified children's book story of how 671 00:42:45,000 --> 00:42:49,399 Speaker 1: penicillin was developed is not, as is often the case, 672 00:42:49,480 --> 00:42:52,800 Speaker 1: not not really cute. It is very cute and not 673 00:42:52,880 --> 00:42:56,400 Speaker 1: very complete. So thank you again, Abby for this email 674 00:42:56,440 --> 00:42:58,480 Speaker 1: and for the cat pictures. If you would like to 675 00:42:58,480 --> 00:43:00,759 Speaker 1: write to us about this or any other podcast or 676 00:43:00,760 --> 00:43:03,120 Speaker 1: at history podcasts that I Heart radio dot com. If 677 00:43:03,120 --> 00:43:04,720 Speaker 1: you're going to write to us to say that climate 678 00:43:04,760 --> 00:43:07,520 Speaker 1: change is not real, just keep that to yourself because 679 00:43:07,560 --> 00:43:11,359 Speaker 1: that's incorrect. We are on the I Heart Radio app 680 00:43:11,400 --> 00:43:14,279 Speaker 1: wherever else you like to get your podcasts and we 681 00:43:14,360 --> 00:43:16,800 Speaker 1: hope you will tune in next time. Kind of scared 682 00:43:16,800 --> 00:43:24,279 Speaker 1: you away with our climate talk. Stuff you Missed in 683 00:43:24,360 --> 00:43:27,120 Speaker 1: History Class is a production of I heart Radio. For 684 00:43:27,200 --> 00:43:29,879 Speaker 1: more podcasts from I heart Radio, visit the i heart 685 00:43:29,960 --> 00:43:33,040 Speaker 1: Radio app, Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your 686 00:43:33,080 --> 00:43:33,760 Speaker 1: favorite shows.