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This paper discusses the technological and public health context of the 1921 discovery and subsequent development of the anti-knock gasoline additive tetraethyl lead in light of recently released General Motors correspondence files. The discovery has long been seen as a milestone of systematic research and a vital turning point in the development of modern high compression engines. The documents show that the choice of tetraethyl lead over other alternatives took place within the context of a complex controversy. After leaded gasoline entered the market in 1923 - 24, a fatal refinery accident drew attention to the poisonous nature of the full strength additive and the potential public health risk from fuel containing the diluted additive. Public health advocates claimed that alternatives existed, but industry insisted that tetraethyl lead was the only additive that could be used.