How Dr. Claire C. Patterson Won against the tetraethyl lead industry Dr. Claire C. Patterson was a chemist that worked on the Manhattan Project. (20th century geologist page 1) his greatest contribution to all life on earth was the discovery of lead pollution from tetraethyl lead through the air, and later the discovery of the age of the earth. Dr. Patterson was considered a renegade scientist for fighting against Doctor Kehoe, a toxicologist, who supported the oil company. “Patterson was an expert in analyzing trace elements; Kehoe was a doctor who was in the pocket of the petroleum industry. Patterson saw rising levels of lead in the environment as a consequence of its uses a fuel additive; Kehoe was getting paid to sow doubt. Patterson focuses on the effects of …show more content…
He had to measure extremely small amounts of lead in meteorites. He took precautions working in a clean room and washing his hands and putting on surgical clothing. Patterson used radioactive elements such as uranium and thorium found in meteorites these elements have a certain stable half-life that never changes and can be used to base how old the earth is and how much lead there is compared to uranium and thorium. He found that millions of years ago lead stored in microscopic plants and animals and in ocean sediments was 1/10 to 1/100 the amount now being dumped into oceans from companies. He studied bones and teeth of prehistoric humans and saw they had a tiny percentage of lead compared to that found in modern humans. He also showed that a remote Canyon in Sierra Nevada was polluted by lead so much that it overwhelmed plant and animal defenses. Kehoe tried to stop this by saying a Mexican tribe in a remote location had the same amount of lead as a normal human (but they were also contaminated off site). (Claire C. Patterson Is dead, page