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Questions and Answers about Lead in Vehicles

JULY 2003

Q: What is the concern with lead?

A: Lead is responsible for many adverse health impacts, including learning abnormalities and behavioral problems in children. Recent studies of the health impacts of lead have shown that there is no safe level of lead exposure. The combination of high toxicity, a long life in the environment, and the ability to build up in food chains makes lead one of the most problematic chemicals in commerce for human and ecological health.

Q: Why is lead in vehicles a problem? How does it get into the environment and effect human health?

A: The North American automobile industry is responsible for the release or transfer each year of more than 300 million pounds (136,508 metric tons) of lead through mining, smelting, manufacturing, recycling and disposing of lead-containing automotive components -- primarily batteries - - and through normal vehicle use.

Over its lifetime, a car uses as much lead as a house with lead paint, which has been banned for decades. Lead pollution associated with autos gets into the air and soil when lead is produced or recycled for use in cars, and water may be polluted from the disposal of batteries and autos, or when wheel weights are lost on roadways.

Q: How much lead is used in vehicles? How much ends up as emissions and waste?

A: A new car contains about 27 pounds of lead. In its lifetime, a car may require about 125 pounds of lead. Over the life of an average car, 16 pounds of lead pollution (as direct emissions or waste) are produced. This total includes lead emission from the production of lead for auto parts, and lead loss from vehicles during their use and recycling or disposal. Most lead use and pollution from vehicles is tied to the need for replacement batteries.

Q: Are the alternatives to lead-acid batteries really safer than lead? For example, isn't nickel just as toxic?

A: We do not claim that nickel metal hydride or lithium-ion alternatives are environmentally benign. Rather, we document the unacceptable health impacts of lead use in autos and the need to invest in moving to environmentally preferable options. Nickel and lithium alternatives are cited because they are currently being used in vehicle applications. Our recommendations acknowledge the need for a transition plan on the way to a 10-year phase out of lead, which should include further work on comparative health impacts and economic viability of alternatives.

We expect that the two cited alternatives are environmentally preferable to lead given the very high toxicity and persistence of lead in the environment and its strong tendency to build up in food chains. Nickel production is a health concern, but lead is far riskier according to U.S. EPA. Also, nickel and lithium batteries perform significantly better, requiring 2-3 times less material for the same power output and achieving 2-3 times longer life. Research to date suggests that lithium-ion may be the most preferable option of the three from an environmental standpoint.

Q: Are there alternatives for other uses of lead in vehicles?

A: Yes. The European Union has directed automakers to phase out many uses of lead in vehicles, finding that it is practical to employ alternatives. For instance, lead wheel weights may be replaced by cost-effectiveness steel or tin weights, which have been successfully used elsewhere in the world. Other examples include substituting more stable plastics for polyvinyl chloride, using lead-free solder in electronics, and using lead-free (or at least-reduced lead) alloying agents to produce steel and aluminum alloys.

Q: Since lead batteries are one of the most recycled products, why not continue to use lead in batteries and other products?

A: Despite high recycling rates, the amount of lead used in auto batteries is so high that non-recycled batteries account for nearly 1/3 of the lead wastestream from vehicles (over 40,000 metric tons/year). Further, lead smelters that recycle auto batteries release significant quantities of lead to surrounding communities. As the top customers of the lead industry, automakers and starter battery manufacturers perpetuate the heavy pollution of air, water, and soil associated with lead production.

Q: Isn't most lead poisoning and lead exposure from lead based paints and lead in gasoline?

A: Both lead paint and leaded gas were banned in the U.S. decades ago. It is very important to continue to protect kids from exposure to historical lead paint use, but lead in vehicles is by far the top source of new lead pollution today. Phasing out lead use in vehicles is the next logical step to build on the landmark public health progress made by banning lead in paint and gasoline.

Q: How much more will a vehicle cost if the automakers are forced to switch to lead free batteries?

The auto industry is already moving toward more expensive 42-volt battery systems for performance reasons; the question is whether they will place a priority on batteries that avoid the use of lead. Our analysis shows that at commercial volumes, nickel metal hydride batteries could cost roughly the same as current lead-acid batteries if their longer life is taken into account, while weighing less and taking up less space. With a comprehensive transition plan to develop and commercialize alternative batteries, consumers may simply get better performing batteries at similar cost. If combined with hybrid-electric drive, alternative batteries offer the potential to save consumers money by increasing fuel-economy. Automakers need a clear signal that lead-free alternatives must be further refined and brought to market in higher volumes to achieve economies of scale.

Q: What are automakers doing to address this problem?

A: In Europe, automakers are working to comply with lead phase out requirements specified in the European Union's End-of-Life Vehicle Directive. However, automakers have not committed to phasing out these lead uses in North America.

Some automakers are deploying alternative battery technologies in hybrids and developing new systems to deal with growing accessory loads. This provides an opportunity for sorely needed innovation in battery technology to achieve a range of environmental and performance benefits. However, there is little evidence of automaker intent to substantially reduce overall lead use in North America without policy intervention.

One positive development in recent years has been a trend to eliminate lead use in dip tanks associated with auto paint shops. Several years ago, the Clean Car Campaign identified this in our Clean Car Standard as an easy first step.

Q: What are governments doing to address this problem?

A: Most states have policies to encourage collection of auto batteries for recycling, but recycling is not enough to protect public health because lead smelting to make new products is a highly polluting business. Governments in North America need to establish policies to phase-out the use of lead in vehicles, facilitate a successful transition to lead-free vehicles, and ensure that automakers, battery manufacturers, and end-of-life vehicle operations all play an appropriate part in recovering and safely managing lead in vehicles during the transition period.