During the 1970s Germany followed general trend of discouraging the addition lead to road fuel, which was followed by a reduction in the octane levels of the "normal" and "super" grade fuels widely available at filling stations.
However, the early 1970s saw increasing awareness of the dangers to health arising from lead being added to road fuel, and the oil companies responded to the resulting political and regulatory pressures by reducing both the levels of lead in fuel and the availability at filling stations of higher octane petrol/gasoline.
In 1975 the Petrol/gasoline lead law came into force, more than halving the amount of lead that could be added to petrol in West Germany.
This was not possible with existing leaded gasoline, because the lead residue contaminated the platinum catalyst.
He was a key figure in a team of chemists, led by Charles F. Kettering, that developed the tetraethyllead (TEL) additive to gasoline as well as some of the first chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs).