In almost all instances, recycling is a positive thing. Unfortunately, even when we are talking about recycling products for the betterment of mankind, there can be some dangers involved. A new report is showing that a growing number of recycled batteries from the United States are being sent to Mexico. Once they arrive in Mexico, the lead they contain is being removed in dangerous ways that are actually illegal in the United States.
Because of these practices, it appears that some toxic materials are leaking into the soil, poisoning both the workers that are removing the materials as well as townspeople in the local regions. The worst part of this particular happenstance is that it appears to be a byproduct of tough new environmental standards instituted by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
These new standards are meant to keep United States workers safer, but they also cost more and take more time. A loophole in the new standards does not prohibit the exporting of the recycled batteries to other countries and that is where Mexico’s problem begins.
Mexican authorities have already said that they simply do not have the money or the manpower needed in order to make sure that workers in poorer neighborhoods are going out of their way to perform safe practices.
Because of the new standards, batteries are being sent in legally as well as smuggled into countries like Mexico on a daily basis. The batteries are then mined for lead, which used to be available in large supplies but are starting to become less available across the globe. Spent batteries have a large quantity of lead with some varieties having up to 40 pounds.
Overexposure to lead can cause a wide variety of health problems including high blood pressure, kidney damage and stomach pains. All of these symptoms are well known as side effects of lead poisoning. Now that the side effects are showing up in Mexico and other third world countries, a new worldwide push to get the United States to close the loophole has begun. Environmentalists are in almost universal agreement that the onus is on the US to stop the tide of lead related illness thanks to these batteries.
Edited by
Jennifer Russell
