| General > General Technical Chat |
| Hazards of Alkaline Batteries? |
| (1/3) > >> |
| Boris_yo:
Hello, When I was cleaning backyard I noticed around 7lbs of alkaline batteries scattered around. Some were burned. I know alkalines are toxic for environment and should not be disposed as normal garbage. But how dangerous are these to human species? Since I reside on first floor, I wonder if alkalines posed a danger to my health all that time. |
| Siwastaja:
They are pretty benign, not a huge environmental issue either (still, it's not an excuse not to recycle properly). They consist of Zinc and manganese dioxide. Both used as dietary supplements! And then the alkaline itself, NaOH or KOH, which is not toxic but as a strong base, is highly corrosive so can cause skin burns, which you would have noticed back then when handling them. Diluted down enough (like 1:1000), you can eat it no problem. There might be some trace amounts of substances I don't know about but I'm pretty sure environmental regulations have not allowed large amounts of anything really dangerous in decades. There is no health danger even if you handled leaked batteries or even if you cut one open to examine it. Now if some are burned then this opens doors for all nasty things that are produced when burning anything but I doubt much remains as long as you don't inhale the smoke. |
| Boris_yo:
--- Quote from: Siwastaja on October 20, 2021, 10:56:33 am ---There is no health danger even if you handled leaked batteries or even if you cut one open to examine it. --- End quote --- Still won't be problem for people with asthma? |
| Siwastaja:
AFAIK there are no compounds irritating to respitory system but of course I'm not a doctor neither a chemist. Burning anything, including wood and gasoline, releases harmful particulates and gases of course but most are released as smoke. Really, I wouldn't be worried the slightest about this. Said otherwise, there are gazillion of more probable problems around you, every day, including exhausts from cars. |
| ChristofferB:
I believe all batteries has to state on them if they contain lead, mercury or cadmium. Those are the big nasties in batteries. the manganese is a borderline heavy metal, and not super good, however it exists mainly as manganese dioxide which is insoluble in water and therefore hard to get into the body. If in doubt, wear gloves. As for the asthma thing, that's impossible to say. I agree with Siwastaja, I wouldn't worry too much. |
| Navigation |
| Message Index |
| Next page |