Are you lead-ing the pollution bandwagon?

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Keywords: Car Batteries, Lead

New Delhi: When you bid goodbye to your car battery and get a new one, do you ever wonder what happens to the old one?

Ideally these batteries are supposed to go back to the companies which manufacture them for safe disposal.

But roughly 80 out of 100 times, this does not happen. They fall into the hands of local recyclers.

And for the likes of 46-year-old Shakeel, manufacturing lead batteries locally has been his business for more than 14 years now.

But what he doesn’t realise is how hazardous this business is. The metal lead is a main component in these batteries.

Exposure to it could cause reduced cognitive abilities, anemia, kidney and reproductive problems.

Its especially harmful to small children as it could effect their nervous system.

Now Occupational Knowledge International has introduced the Better Environmental Sustainability Targets Certification for battery manufacturers.

“the idea is to first reinforce safe practices in the industrial plants, second, occupational hazards for workers and third, ensuring safe disposal practices,”

But experts say that it’s the unregulated disposal system, that's the main culprit.

Says Dr Vijaya Lakshmi of Developmental Alternatives, “When you are talking about secondary recycling where there’s no way of pollution control you are getting exposed to high levels to lead.”

Major battery manufacturers are now planning more safety measures.

“One way to reach out to them is to make them our partners. And if there’s an alternative way of continuing in the industry, I don’t see any reason why they can’t be a part of it,” Deputy GM, Amara Raja Batteries, Vijayanand.

But sooner or later, it's the small battery manufacturers and the local dealers who would need to be targeted.

They need to be imparted healthcare education, information about safety and safe disposal and more importantly, facilitate ways to ensure that this is not the only livelihood option left for them.