Recycling Lead-Acid Batteries Has Significant Health Risks - CleanTechnica

The article from CleanTechnica highlights the significant health risks associated with recycling lead-acid batteries, a process critical due to the vast number of vehicles worldwide—about 1.6 billion—that rely on lead-based batteries. While recycling is generally promoted as environmentally responsible, the article points out that the lead recycling industry, particularly in countries like Nigeria and Mexico, involves hazardous, labor-intensive work that exposes workers to toxic lead poisoning. Despite the environmental necessity of recycling these batteries to recover lead for reuse, the process often harms both human health and the environment, and much of this work is outsourced from the U.S. to countries with less stringent safety regulations. The article also critiques the inconsistency and hypocrisy in environmental advocacy, noting that while some activists focus on issues like cobalt mining or wind turbine waste, they often overlook the widespread pollution and health damage caused by other industrial activities, including lead recycling. It underscores that industries such as automotive manufacturing have historically downplayed or deflected responsibility for the dangers of lead exposure