These contributions are sensitive to the selected time horizon of the life-cycle assessment, with longer or shorter time horizons leading to considerably increased or decreased health impacts, respectively. However, emissions from production of nickel sulfate (used in the cathode) and of copper foil (the anode current collector) contribute even more (30% and 20%, respectively). ResultsĪpplying the high fatality rate, occupational accidents in the artisanal cobalt mining in the DRC contribute notably to the total life-cycle health impacts of the LIB cell (13%). Two scenarios for fatality rates in the artisanal cobalt mining in the DRC are considered: a high scenario at 2000 fatalities/year and a low scenario at 65 fatalities/year. Potential health impacts from both emissions and occupational accidents are quantified in terms of DALY, making this an impact pathway (or type II) study with regard to social impact assessment. The studied LIB is produced in a large-scale “gigafactory” in Sweden, the cobalt sulfate for the cathode is produced in China, and the cobalt raw material is sourced from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). MethodsĪ cradle-to-gate attributional life-cycle assessment study is conducted with the functional unit of one LIB cell and human health as the sole endpoint considered. The aim is to quantify the potential life-cycle health impacts of an LIB cell of the type nickel-manganese-cobalt (NMC 811) in terms of disability-adjusted life years (DALY), as well as to identify hotspots and ways to reduce the health impacts. This study focuses on human health impacts - arguably the most fundamental of all social impacts. Lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) have been criticized for contributing to negative social impacts along their life cycles, especially child labor and harsh working conditions during cobalt extraction.
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