Survey of mercury, cadmium and lead content of household batteries

Abstract

The objective of this work was to provide updated information on the development of the potentialimpact of heavy metal containing batteries on municipal waste and battery recycling processes followingtransposition of the new EU Batteries Directive 2006/66/EC. A representative sample of 146 differenttypes of commercially available dry and button cells as well as lithium-ion accumulators for mobilephones were analysed for their mercury (Hg)-, cadmium (Cd)- and lead (Pb)-contents. The methods usedfor preparing the cells and analysing the heavy metals Hg, Cd, and Pb were either developed during a formerstudy or newly developed. Several batteries contained higher mass fractions of mercury or cadmiumthan the EU limits. Only half of the batteries with mercury and/or lead fractions above the markingthresholds were labelled. Alkaline-manganese mono-cells and Li-ion accumulators, on average, containedthe lowest heavy metal concentrations, while zinc-carbon batteries, on average, contained thehighest levels.Quelle: Waste Management 34 (2014) 156-161