Fighting what's good for us -- how removing lead from fuel took a while

The title links to a short article on the catalytic converter. Here is a longer lead-up to that and how companies are really not looking out for the public good. It appears that we're too satisfied with official lines that sound pleasing. On the guy who started noticing things after the government dropped the ball:

For a time thereafter, Patterson found himself ostracized from government and corporate sponsored research projects, including the a National Research Council panel on atmospheric lead contamination. The Ethyl corporation had powerful friends, including a Supreme Court justice, members of the US Public Health Service, and the mighty American Petroleum Institute.