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Getting rid of lead in gasoline is important because we consume a LOT of gasoline. We don't consume nearly so much Avgas -- it's about three orders of magnitude difference and as such it's a drastically smaller pollution source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avgas#Consumption

If you're truly concerned about lead in the environment you'd be best served going after old structures with leaded paint -- not Avgas.

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And yet avgas is still responsible for nearly half of lead emissions in the US now. That seems significant.

Only if the lead emissions as a whole are significant.

True, but from what I can see, research indicates that it is.

Only because lead paint is excluded from your statement by definition. It's already "emitted."

What proportion of atmospheric lead comes from lead paint?

Old structures with leaded paint don't routinely spray it in a fine mist of particulates from several thousand feet in the air, do they?

Do I understand correctly that leaded paint is harmless until scratched or otherwise dispersed?

Lead paint can get pulverized and dispersed as dust as you open and close windows and doors and the like.

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