Oxygen Sensors and Catalytic Converter
By 1970, high-quality spark plugs had engines putting and the world's roads and highways were buzzing with automobiles, trucks, and buses, especially in and around major cities.
Motor vehicles also were producing 200 million tons of pollution per year in the United States alone.
Americans came to realize that automobile pollution was turning our major cities into respiratory death traps.
In response to this severe health hazard, the US Congress passed The Clean Air Act in 1970, with the intent of reducing Pollution emissions from automobiles and other vehicles by 90 percent. The development of oxygen sensors and catalytic converters, both completely dependent ceramics, enabled car manufacturers to meet that gaol in less than 10 years.