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Americans’ Old Car Batteries Are Making Mexican Workers Sick

Important New York Times story from a study by IPEN member Casa Cem and OK International.

The city of Monterrey, a three-hour drive from Texas, has become the largest source of used car batteries from the United States, with steady growth over the past decade in the shipment of used American batteries to Mexico, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The increase in batteries from the United States comes as a report released Monday found significantly high levels of lead at many facilities, leaving workers vulnerable to a toxic metal that poses severe risks to human health.

"Soil samples taken outside six battery recycling plants in Monterrey in 2021 revealed lead levels far above the legal limit in Mexico, according to the report by Occupational Knowledge International, a San Francisco-based public health nonprofit, and Casa Cem, a Mexican environmental group." 

Read the Casa Cem/OK International report here.

Read the full New York Times story here. (en Español: https://www.nytimes.com/es/2023/03/20/espanol/mexico-baterias-plomo-estados-unidos.html )