Environmental impact, lead nickel

There is really very little consistency across these environmental impact assessment methods except that the Swedish and Dutch systems rate cadmium the battery metal with the most adverse effects, while the Tellus and Ecoscarcity Methods rate mercury the most adverse battery metal. Zinc, manganese, nickel and even lead have relatively low effects except in the U.S. EPA system, which however is the one system which is most closely tied to actual quantitative assessments of enviromnental and human health toxicological end points. What is very surprising is the relatively low impact values for mercury in the Swedish and Dutch schemes given the general worldwide concern for mercury. 

Total life cycle analyses may be utilized to establish the relative environmental and human health impacts of battery systems over their entire lifetime, from the production of the raw materials to the ultimate disposal of the spent battery. The three most important factors determining the total life cycle impact appear to be battery composition, battery performance, and the degree to which spent batteries are recycled after their useful lifetime. This assessment examines both rechargeable and non-rechargeable batteries, and includes lead acid, nickel cadmium, nickel metal hydride, lithium ion, carbon zinc and alkaline manganese batteries. 

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