Battery Recycling Harms Third World Countries

ext">We cart our car batteries off for recycling,safety precautions to prevent leeching of lead into
thinking we protect the environment. Notthe environment.
so— not on a world-wide basis. To avoidWhat else? Charles Van Breemen invented
stringent regulations in the U.S., used car batteriesBattery Life Saver with the idea that it could help
are processed abroad— some 70 million orprotect the environment. The use of this
so a year. Plants in such countries as Mexico,electronic device triples the life of a battery by
Venezuela, South Korea, China, South Africa, Indiapreventing the formation of lead-sulfate on the
and Brazil do not follow our environmentalbattery plates— the main reason batteries
protection policies.go bad. Van Breemen passed away in April of
Rivers and air are polluted. Workers, mothers2007, but his legacy is carried on by his wife,
children suffer from lead blood poisoning;Elyse, who champions his cause. With wide scale
respiratory ailments, skin sores that bleed, kidneyuse of Battery Life Saver fewer batteries would
disease, impaired fertility. not to mention, at highhave to be discarded; cutting the number of
levels, coma, convulsions and death. Lead isbatteries that would need to be recycled.
especially detrimental to children; it causes kidneyIn third world countries, environmental and
disease, gouty arthritis and permanent lowering ofworkplace rules are lax and wages are low. While
intelligence, creating reading and psychologicalit is not profitable to operate lead recycling
disorders. Even at low levels of exposure, leadfacilities in industrial countries due to environmental
causes anemia by impairing the formation ofand health regulatory costs, it could be profitable
oxygen-carrying molecules. Low levels also causeto expand the use of Battery Life Saver so it is
high blood pressure, leading to early death,used on all lead-acid batteries or develop batteries
especially for men ages 35 to 50;with Battery Life Saver mechanism incorporated
Australia, Japan and the U.K. similarly exportinto the structure. Battery Life Saver is currently
battery waste and other lead scrapvery popular in golf carts and NEV’s.
Grim.Future developments will make it possible to use
Oil and water don’t mix; neither does leadin mainstream electric cars.
and life. Historians link the decline of the Roman"I have my hands full," says Elyse Van Breemen,
Empire to a decline in intelligence caused by thethe President of Battery Power Solutions and
use of lead in drinking vessels and otherInnovations, "seeing that my husband’s
containers.mission is accomplished. I see Battery Life Saver
What do we do? What’s good for theas "the light bulb" to the battery industry. In these
goose is good for the gander and we should insistdifficult economic times, we need simple, cost
that any recycling plant used by an Americaneffective solutions to environmental and
company, albeit in a third world country, insurestransportation problems, and we have one.