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 Drinking water can contain a little lithium because the mineral
occurs naturally in the Earth's crust and in soil and bodies of
water. But even with the rapid rise of consumer electronics powered
by lithium batteries in recent years, research to date hasn't
offered a clear picture of how much production and disposal of these
products might increase lithium levels in drinking water, the study
team notes in Nature Communications.
For the current study, researchers tested water from the Han river
where it runs through Seoul as well as upstream, before it reaches
the metropolitan area.
Upstream, lithium levels were low and similar to what's found
naturally in many rivers, the study found. But where the Han river
ran through Seoul, lithium levels in the water were up to six times
higher than upstream.
"This new study suggests that an increase of urbanization and
modernization will result in an increase of the (lithium) levels in
waters in the future," said senior study author Nathalie Vigier of
the Sorbonne University in Paris.
"Quantifying precisely the exact contribution from high tech
materials remains an open question, as well as predicting how this
contribution will evolve in the next 20 years," Vigier said by
email.
The results suggest that lithium levels in water may be associated
with population density, and that waste-water treatment plants
aren't currently effective at removing it from drinking water, the
study team concludes.
Researchers also tested the water to determine the potential sources
of lithium contamination.
They found that lithium entering the Han river appears to come from
lithium-ion batteries that power gadgets like smartphones and
tablets. Pharmaceutical waste - lithium is prescribed for certain
psychiatric disorders - and food waste - lithium enters certain
produce from soil and water - also appeared to contribute to lithium
levels in the Han river.
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Contamination from lithium ion batteries might come from waste
waters released at industrial sites, incineration systems, illegal
landfills or storage of old batteries, Vigier said.
The study wasn't designed to determine how lithium got in the water
supply or to prove whether increasing lithium levels in drinking
water has an impact on health.
"The study does not demonstrate that lithium-batteries are the
source of the lithium in the river water," said Brett Robinson, a
professor of environmental chemistry at the University of Canterbury
in New Zealand who wasn't involved in the study.
"In addition to batteries, lithium is used in greases, ceramics and
mood-stabilizing drugs," Robinson said by email. "Lithium from
greases may enter river water through storm water and lithium from
mood-stabilizing drugs may enter . . . through treated sewage (the
treatment does not remove lithium)."
Lithium may also leach into the environment from electronic waste in
landfills, Robinson said.
"In poor countries, where informal recycling of electronic waste
occurs, it is likely that large amounts of (lithium) are entering
the environment," Robinson said.
The batteries can be recycled, but most are not, he added. "As with
other recycling issues, lithium battery recycling is a social and
political challenge."
SOURCE: https://go.nature.com/2S5Qeix Nature Communications, online
December 3, 2019.
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