Why small planes still use leaded fuel decades after phase-out in cars

Miguel Alarcon made a habit of wiping down his white Ford pickup truck parked in the driveway of his East San Jose home in California. Like clockwork, a layer of grey film appeared on his car every few days, which he believed was an accumulation of exhaust from leaded-fuel planes flying overhead in and out of Reid-Hillview Airport.

“My car was always dirty from the pollution,” said Alarcon, 42, who lived across the street from the airport from 2014 to 2017.

While he lived there, Alarcon said, he also struggled with respiratory issues. His doctor prescribed antibiotics to treat his breathing problems. But when his sneezing didn’t stop, his doctor recommended he move far from the airport in East San Jose, an area where 2.5 percent of children under 6 years old who were tested had detectable levels of lead in their blood, according to the California Department of Public Health's most recent figures, from 2012. He moved out for a price; his rent jumped from $800 to $1,700 a month.