United States. Clair Cameron Patterson publishes the article “Contaminated and Natural Lead Environments of Man,” in which he denounces lead contamination in the modern environment, citing years of experiments he conducted. His evidence ultimately prevails, and in 1973, the United States begins to progressively reduce the amount of lead in gasoline, finally eliminating it completely in 1986. The amount of lead in Americans’ blood by 1995 will have dropped by up to 80% compared to the 1970s. In Europe, such measures will be adopted with a delay of one or two decades.
