Some lithium-ion battery manufacturing technologies use a class of chemicals called PFAS (per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances). They help make batteries less prone to fire and increase their conductivity. However, they also pose great environmental and health risks.
The problem is that PFAS are known as «everlasting chemicals» because they accumulate rapidly in the environment, humans and animals and do not decompose for thousands of years. They have been linked to a number of diseases, including liver damage, high cholesterol, low birth weight, and chronic kidney failure.
Scientists have found high levels of PFAS in the air, water, snow, soil, and sediments near plants that produce these chemicals in the United States, Belgium, and France. However, this is already a global problem, as lithium-ion batteries are used all over the world, the study says. The same class of PFAS was recently found at low levels in European and Chinese water, but the source of the contamination was unclear.
The specific class of PFAS that the research team identified is called bis-perfluoroalkyl sulfonamides or bis-FASI. The scientists tested more than a dozen lithium-ion batteries used in electric vehicles and consumer electronics such as laptops and found bis-FASI in various concentrations.
The researchers say that bis-FASI is comparable to «older, notorious» chemicals such as PFOA (perfluorinated carboxylic acid), in part because it is extremely difficult to break down. At the same time, studies show that the chemicals alter the behavior of aquatic organisms at low concentrations. PFOA production in the United States has been phased out, but the substance continues to contaminate drinking water. Scientists have detected bis-FASIs at parts per billion — much higher than the limits set by the Environmental Protection Agency for PFAS in drinking water.
There are different ways bis-FASIs can be distributed. Data on air emissions indicate that the chemicals can be released into areas far from production sites. They can also be released into the environment from landfills, where most lithium-ion batteries end up at the end of their life.
The study says that only about 5% of lithium-ion batteries are recycled, and by 2040, there could be about 8 million tons of lithium-ion battery waste.
Source: businessinsider