Corrective Development

Products change in response to news that they can do harm.

Lead Paint was oil based and required turpentine to clean up.  Lead Paint was banned in 1978.  Vinyl Paint was available and was used widely after 1900, because it was water-based and easy to clean up.

Freon was used in air conditioning units until 1987. It was thought to deplete the earth’s ozone layer and was banned and replaced by another refrigerant called R22.

Asbestos was used as an insulation material until 1989. It was thought to cause lung damage.  It was replaced by cellulous fiber.

Oil tankers used to be single-hull vessels until too many tankers crashed and leaked oil into the ocean. To correct this, shippers built double-hull vessels and upgraded their controls.

The demand for oil had outstripped supply, so oil companies researched processes to extract oil from shale. They developed fracking technology and that worked. Now they are continuing development to mitigate potential problems.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader