Science lesson time!
Deforest Sparks writes in a message to Matt Smith
 DS> If you don't believe it can happen look what they have done 
 DS> with other items that are your personal property ie: your car 
 DS> you can't remove certain parts from your car with out getting 
 DS> a fine even if you can prove that the car can and will run 
 DS> clean with out it, such as the catalytic converter it was forced 
 DS> on us to remove lead from exhaust when we had a choice of two 
 DS> type of gas, now we can only use unleaded gas but you still 
 DS> cannot remove it even though it is not needed any more.
Better get a new reason for not wanting a catalytic converter.  Leaded gas 
will "poison" a catalytic converter - that's why cars that have them are 
specified for unleaded fuel only.
  
The catalytic converter is there to take unburned hydrocarbons, add oxygen to 
them and convert them to CO2 and H2O.  This reduces particulates and CO 
emissions.
  
It has nothing to do with leaded gas - except that leaded gas can't be used 
in a car equipped with a converter because it makes it not work.
(And there are plenty of other reasons not to use leaded gas - primarily the 
amount of lead it spews into the atmosphere.  Exposure to lead makes people 
stupid - some say that lead plumbing is the primary cause of the fall of the 
Roman Empire.)
  
And now back to our regularly scheduled topic...
 
--- COUNTERPoint 2.3
---------------