what we know about health risks – Liberation
Monday evening, a major fire a rekindled fears in Rouen. Three years later that of the Lubrizol factory, where 10,000 tons of chemical products had gone up in smoke, the population feared to have been once again exposed to dangerous pollution. In addition to a hangar containing 70,000 tires, a large Bolloré Logistics warehouse was ravaged by flames. Inside, 12,250 batteries or lithium battery cells intended for vehicles, as well as used batteries awaiting reprocessing, fueled a thick plume of smoke. Release takes stock of the possible consequences of the fire, which is now under control.
What are batteries normally made of?
Car batteries are made up of several elements: cathodes (most commonly cobalt, nickel and manganese), graphite anodes, copper and aluminum collectors, a liquid solution called “electrolyte” based on organic carbonates in which a lithium salt (LiPF6) is dissolved, and finally a metal or plastic casing.
What is released when it all goes up in smoke?
“A battery is safe in normal times”, would like to point out Thiery Delbaere, head of the battery team at the National Institute for the Industrial Environment and Risks (Ineris). In the event of combustion, “it can have two effects: it produces heat and it can release toxic gases”. Ineris, thanks to tests carried out in its laboratories, found that a burning battery released mainly carbon dioxide (CO2) and carbon monoxide (CO). “The latter is toxic, it can be found in badly affected boilers”, specifies Thiery Delbaere. He also mentions hydrogen fluoride, “a non-flammable gas, but toxic by inhalation and skin contact”. Metal type particles (cobalt, nickel, manganese) are also released, as well as, to a lesser extent, lithium, fluorine and phosphorus and aluminum.
What do the first on-site analyzes say?
A peak of PM10 fine particles, which are small enough to penetrate the lungs, was indeed noted in the air during the fire, confirmed the Atmo Normandie association. Studies are underway to determine their exact composition. Despite high occasional concentrations, particularly in Grand-Couronne, the alert threshold has not been reached, she specifies with 76News.
According to Pierre-André Durand, the prefect of Normandy and Seine-Maritime, the first analyzes required on the site of the fire and in the municipalities scraped by the plume of smoke were below the regulatory thresholds and “no particular risk has been identified”, he asserted. Four substances have so far been researched: nitric oxide, hydrochloric acid and hydrocyanic acid as well as hydrofluoric acid (which is none other than hydrogen fluoride in liquid form). The latter would not have the physical properties to travel great distances in the air. “It is certainly very toxic but it will quickly either degrade, combine, or fall”explains Arnaud Bordes, research and studies manager for safety batteries at Ineris. “It doesn’t disperse very easily in the air. It tends to redeposit on surfaces. It is likely that its concentration in the fumes will drop very quickly”completes Thierry Delbaere.
What is the health risk?
According to Paul Poulain, industrial risk expert interviewed by AFP, “Lithium battery fires are very polluting” and maybe “graves for health”. “From a health point of view, we will have to follow the firefighters who fought this fire, because they are the most”, he warns. Alma Dufour, elected in the 4th district of Seine-Maritime, asked for health monitoring of firefighters and the population. “Hydrofluoric acid is extremely dangerous, corrosive, strongly irritating to the respiratory tract. And it has the particularity of fetching calcium crystals in the blood. People who are exposed to it in a significant way can have heart problems, there can also be long-term effects on the bones”, emphasizes Fabrizio Pariselli, toxicologist at the CNRS. It remains to be seen whether this substance will fall to the ground in quantity. And, if applicable, what type of depollution action should be undertaken.
The prefect has promised to publish the results of all the analyses. Additional measures will be granted concerning soot emissions and possible pollution of the Seine.