Well, no.

I am from the generation after the boomers but I grew up right before the Internet exploded onto the world and i can tell you that you would never see that sort of information unless you were looking for it. I know people love to shit on boomers, hence boomers being an insult word these days, but many simply couldn't know better.

Hell, I didn't know and believe me, I was (and still am) the kind of person that loves to read new things STEM. I had subscriptions on scientific magazines and I do remember reading articles about it being anything, scientists already knew about car tired being a problem, but it didn't go beyond some reports. The general population didn't know and pretending that they could have and should have known is simply disingenuous.

If you were alive at that time then you too know that it wasn't that easy.