Soil Cleanup Near Battery Recycling Sites Cuts Childhood Lead Exposure by 22% in Bangladesh

Lead-acid batteries are a global staple, powering most electric vehicles, conventional cars, and backup energy storage systems in developing nations. However, when these batteries are recycled in smelting units lacking proper pollution controls, they can release dangerous levels of lead into the environment. This lead pollution can linger in local soils for thousands of years, posing severe health risks to nearby communities.

Informal and unregulated recycling operations are widespread due to the high costs—millions of dollars—associated with establishing regulated recycling sites with adequate pollution control measures.

Study Findings: Soil Remediation Lowers Childhood Lead Exposure

A recent study published in the International Journal of Hygiene and Environmental Health highlights the health benefits of cleaning up contaminated soil near abandoned battery recycling sites. Researchers reported a 22% reduction in blood lead levels (BLLs) among children living near a remediated site in a Bangladeshi town.

“Informal battery recycling is rampant in Bangladesh.” “Informal battery recycling is rampant in Bangladesh,” said Mahbubur Rahman, an environmental health scientist at the International Centre for Diarrhoeal Disease Research, Bangladesh, and coauthor of the study. “Used lead-acid batteries are broken up and smelted in close proximity to residential and agricultural areas, which exposes those communities to lead emissions that contaminate their soil and water sources.”

Research Methodology and Key Results

Rahman and colleagues analyzed the BLLs of 130 children living near two abandoned used lead-acid battery (ULAB) recycling sites in the Tangail District of Bangladesh, which were shut down in early 2019. They also assessed the BLLs of 37 children who did not live near any ULAB recycling sites.

The researchers conducted soil remediation efforts at one of the ULAB sites but not the other. Before the cleanup, the team held informational sessions for the community to explain the dangers of lead pollution and obtain informed consent from participants.

Following the remediation, the lead content in the soil at the treated site dropped from over 20,000 parts per million (ppm) to less than 400 ppm—a level deemed acceptable by the U.S. EPA at the time of the study (2022–2023). Note: The EPA reduced the acceptable limit to 200 ppm in 2024.

The team collected and cleaned up soil from play areas, roadsides, and courtyards in 68 households within the intervention group. One year after the cleanup, the 89 children from these households showed the most significant reduction in BLLs, dropping from 90.1 to 70.4 micrograms per liter—a decrease of more than 21%.

“We know for sure that the areas close to abandoned ULAB recycling sites are as contaminated as areas around abandoned lead mines.”

In contrast, children living near the second abandoned ULAB recycling site, where no soil remediation was conducted, experienced only an 8.4% reduction in BLLs, from 88.5 to 81.1 micrograms per liter. The slight decrease in the control group’s BLLs may be attributed to a government initiative aimed at reducing lead levels in turmeric.