Lead industry leaders in California are to hold talks with regulators as part of a review of lead-acid batteries under the state’s ‘safer consumer products’ (SCP) initiative.
State governor Jerry Brown (pictured) ordered the review last year in the wake of the closure of Exide Technologies’ troubled Vernon lead-acid battery recycling plant.
California’s Department of Toxic Substances Control (DTSC) said its SCP programme is evaluating the potential impact to consumers from products containing one or more chemicals— and could spur moves to produce “less toxic batteries”.
The US-based Advanced Lead Acid Battery Consortium (ALABC) told BBB it welcomed the review as an opportunity to showcase the industry’s on going work to improve safety and performance in “delivering batteries for the 21st century”.
The DTSC is launching the review at a meeting in Sacramento on 6 November. The agency said it wants more information “on lead-acid battery markets and exposures to chemicals (especially lead, arsenic, and sulfuric acid) throughout the battery life cycle”.
But the DTSC said it acknowledged lead batteries’ “affordability and performance in extreme heat and cold have allowed them to remain the dominant battery technology despite the known toxicity and hazards of their contents”.
An ALABC spokesperson told BBB: “We are excited that members of the lead and lead battery industry will have the opportunity to share with California regulators our efforts to deliver batteries for the 21st century.”
“Through the work of ALABC, we are committed to undertaking pre-competitive research and development to ensure lead battery performance continues to meet end-user requirements,” the spokesperson said. “For example, a number of projects are under way aimed at improving their dynamic charge acceptance for use in start-stop, micro and mild hybrid applications, which play an important role in reducing fuel use and CO2 emissions in automotive vehicles.”
“Other work is focused on improving performance at partial stage of change of lead batteries for utility and renewable energy storage applications,” the spokesperson said. “These performance enhancements, when coupled with lead batteries’ unique combination of safety, cost, reliability and closed loop recycling, will ensure that they continue to be an enabling technology for future automotive and renewable energy applications.”
There are around 55 lead-acid battery manufacturing facilities in the US, six of which are in California. Industry data shows the recycling rate for lead-acid batteries in the US now stands at nearly 100%.
