> The BBC is British - what about the UK? The rest of Europe? China? Japan? Russia? Australia? Did the entire rest of the world also use leaded petrol? And stopped using it at the same time as the US?

More or less.

https://ourworldindata.org/data-insights/every-country-has-n...

In cars, yes. In the aviation world the fuel is very much still leaded.

> In the aviation world the fuel is very much still leaded.

In the general aviation world, to be precise: https://www.nbcnews.com/business/business-news/leaded-gas-wa...

The fact that GA is the quintessential arrogant rich man's hobby makes the environmental and human health externalities of it all the more disgusting. However, looking at it from a glass half full perspective, GA does exist at that sweet avocational intersection of "expensive" and "deadly," often putting a significant dent in the finances of those whom it seduces before killing them.

I was pretty surprised to learn the US totally banned it for cars about 5 years before the UK/EU.

For context, the EU is a big place. You need every 27 countries to agree to get anything done, or a big push from the parliament. When it comes to environment regulations, EU regulations are pretty much the common denominator. The fact that this is still more stringent than the UK’s regulations says more about the UK than it does about the EU, unfortunately.