GAS STATION ECOLOGY

 

According to the Massachusetts Audubon Society, one gallon of gasoline can contatninate 750,000 gallons of drinking water.

 

BACKGROUND.

Many Americans dont realize that the type of gas we chooseand the way we pump ithas an impact on the environment.

 

IT'S A GAS.

Leaded gas is an environmental hazard. Airborne lead from vehicle exhaust causes liver, kidney, and brain damage in humans. And scientists suspect that it's responsible for damaging crops as well. Ac. cording to one estimate, more than half the 450,000 tons of lead released into the air every year comes from cars.

 

So who uses leaded gas? According to the EPA, about 20% of the drivers whose cars are made for unleaded gas use leaded gas anyway. This not only renders the anti,smog equipment ineffectiveso more pollutants are poured into the airbut ruins their cars, too.

 

Owners of pre1976 cars often believe their vehicles must use leaded gas. The EPA says that's a mythit's the octane rating, not the lead, thaes important. The only exceptions, they note, are when the cars are carrying heavy loads or traveling at high speeds.

 

If your car was made to use leaded premium, try a mix of half regular and half unleaded premium with a 92+ octane rating.

 

DON'T FUME ABOUT IT

 

Butane, a component of gasoline, helps create ozone smog when it evaporates. So when you fill your gas tank, the escaping vapors are polluting the atmosphere.

 

The plastic hoods you see on many gas pump nozzles are actually vapor controls. The special gas hose fits over the tank opening and sucks fumes into the underground storage tank, preventing the va, pors from escaping. More and more states are requiring gas stations to install this vaporcontrol equipment.

 

So if there's a vapor catcher, don't pull if back, and don't pull out the gas nozzle to top off the tank. Thaes what lets the gas vapors into the atmosphere and creates smog