Many reports have shown that it is false to believe that an electric car is more polluting than a combustion engine car, if we consider its entire life cycle, from manufacturing to final disposal. This claim is mainly based on the fact that the battery manufacturing process is responsible for a large percentage of the delayed pollution of an electric vehicle. The Green NCAP, a vehicle assessment initiative focused on environmental sustainability and energy efficiency, indicates that electric vehicles pollute about 30% less than combustion engine cars, if we consider the entire life cycle in both cases.
However, research by Jennifer Guelfo, associate professor of environmental engineering at Texas Tech University, highlights another type of pollution that has nothing to do with CO2, but that can alter the metabolic processes of living beings.
The Battery and PFA Dilemma
PFAS are a group of more than 4,700 widely used synthetic chemicals that accumulate over time in humans and the environment. Lithium-ion batteries, found in cell phones and electric cars, also contain these PFAS.
Researchers have found that PFAS, particularly bis-perfluoroalkyl sulfonimides (bis-FASIs), have similar environmental persistence and ecotoxicity to older, well-known compounds such as perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA).
In a statement, Jennifer Guelfo highlighted the dilemma of reducing carbon dioxide emissions, for which the use of electric vehicles and batteries is crucial, and the fact that their use should not increase PFAS pollution.
The dilemma of manufacturing, disposing of, and recycling these chemicals in a lithium battery requires the development of recycling technologies and solutions that address the climate crisis without releasing highly persistent pollutants.
PFAs and Their Downsides
For their study, published in Nature Communications, the researchers took samples of air, water, snow, soil, and sediment near manufacturing plants in Minnesota, Kentucky, Belgium, and France, and found high concentrations of bis-PFAs. In addition, atmospheric emissions of bis-FASI can facilitate their long-distance transport, also affecting areas far from manufacturing sites.
Analysis of municipal landfills in the southeastern United States suggests that these compounds can enter the environment during the disposal of products, including lithium-ion batteries.
Toxicity testing showed that concentrations of bis-FASI similar to those found at the sampling sites can alter the behavior and metabolic processes of aquatic organisms.
While the toxicity of bis-FASI has not been studied in humans,other PFAS have been linked to cancer, infertility, and other serious health problems. Treatability testing indicated that bis-FASI do not break down through oxidation, but their concentrations in water can be reduced using granular activated carbon and ion exchange, methods already used to remove PFAS from drinking water.All is not lost, because there is a way to prevent this contamination.
Lee Ferguson
, associate professor of environmental engineering at Duke University, said treatments developed to remove PFOA and PFOS can also work for bis-FASI, and their use is likely to increase as treatment facilities are upgraded to meet the EPA’s new maximum contamination levels for PFAS.Guelfo and Ferguson stressed the importance of
adopting clean energy technologiesthat reduce carbon dioxide emissions. Ferguson stressed the need to harness the expertise of multidisciplinary teams to develop clean energy infrastructure with a minimal environmental footprint. Guelfo stressed the importance of ensuring that new energy technologies are truly clean by building on the current momentum of energy initiatives.