Abstract
Inadequate waste management from the lead-acid battery recycling (LABR) industry can severely pollute the soil. This work aimed to assess heavy metal contamination of a defunct LABR site in Mexico. Total, DTPA-extractable, water-soluble metal concentrations and soil fractionation were analyzed. Speciation of Na and Pb was calculated by Geochemist's workbench 10 Software package based on soil solution analysis. Spatial distribution of soil features are presented in maps by the Kriging method.
Highlights
Lead-acid batteries (LAB) are widely used for many industries and are the source of electric energy in every single vehicle
LAB cells are composed of a Pb electrode and a Pb oxide electrode immersed in a solution of sulfuric acid, metallic grids and connections [1], for this reason, used-batteries are considered as hazardous waste
Inadequate management of old batteries and Na compounds used for recycling and scant disposal of residues were performed by the Lead-acid battery recycling (LABR) factory which operated at the site
Summary
Lead-acid batteries (LAB) are widely used for many industries and are the source of electric energy in every single vehicle. LAB cells are composed of a Pb electrode (anode) and a Pb oxide electrode (cathode) immersed in a solution of sulfuric acid, metallic grids and connections [1], for this reason, used-batteries are considered as hazardous waste. Lead-acid battery recycling (LABR) attempts to recover Pb and plastic from old batteries. 80% of the Pb produced is destined for LAB manufacturing and 95% of Pb used in batteries comes from the recycling process. Inadequate LABR process and residue disposal may seriously pollute soil and groundwater [4] as occur in some developing countries. The world most seriously polluted sites (in 2012 and 2015) are commonly related to the LABR industry and Pb deposition [5,7]
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