Abstract
In 1921 General Motors chemists decided to include highly toxic tetraethyl lead in gasoline to reduce “knock” or “pinging” in internal-combustion engines. Switzerland banned this fuel for 22 years, before the country finally authorized the use of leaded gasoline, in 1947. My contribution aims to shed the light on the political acceptance of lead poisoning beyond the USA through the case of Switzerland. While global warming is accelerating and global pollution is getting worse, does environmental history still make sense? Facing the risk of discouragement and demobilization, practice of environmental history is a bulwark against the ideology of technological fix. It gives the word to forgotten actors, readily presented as reactionaries because they warned against destructive technical innovations.
Published Version
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