Failures in the Historical Age Dating of Separate Phase Product Leaded Gasoline Releases in the United States Forensic Geochemical Community. Check Access

In the United States, both manufacture and use of leaded automobile (on-road vehicle) gasoline were banned by the United States Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990, effective after December 31, 1995, following a regulatory initiative that began in the 1970s with a “phase down” of lead in automobile gasoline. However, leaded gasoline is still imported, sold and consumed in the United States today as it is approved for off road uses. Forensic geochemical studies to age date automobile gasoline releases are common in the United States by some commercial organizations as part of litigation-based investigations. These investigations have left a legacy of overall poor science within the forensic community. This chapter examines past age-dating forensic practices, the historical record of leaded automobile gasoline sold in the United States from the 1940s to the 1990s, and the evolving legal and petroleum engineering principles controlling the manufacture of automobile gasoline. By examining the first principles of leaded gasoline manufacture, the quality of the body of leaded gasoline age dating investigations can be assessed.