Brown Connor W, Goldfine Charlotte E, Allan-Blitz Lao-Tzu, Erickson Timothy B
Department of Emergency Medicine, Brigham and Women's Hospital, Boston, MA, USA.
Division of Medical Toxicology, Mass General Brigham, Boston, MA, USA.
J Occup Med Toxicol. 2024 Aug 27;19(1):35. doi: 10.1186/s12995-024-00433-6.
The global market for lithium-ion batteries (LIBs) is growing exponentially, resulting in an increase in mining activities for the metals needed for manufacturing LIBs. Cobalt, lithium, manganese, and nickel are four of the metals most used in the construction of LIBs, and each has known toxicological risks associated with exposure. Mining for these metals poses potential human health risks via occupational and environmental exposures; however, there is a paucity of data surrounding the risks of increasing mining activity. The objective of this review was to characterize these risks.
We conducted a review of the literature via a systematic search of the PubMed database on the health effects of mining for cobalt, lithium, manganese, and nickel. We included articles that (1) reported original research, (2) reported outcomes directly related to human health, (3) assessed exposure to mining for cobalt, lithium, manganese, or nickel, and (4) had an available English translation. We excluded all other articles. Our search identified 183 relevant articles.
Toxicological hazards were reported in 110 studies. Exposure to cobalt and nickel mining were most associated with respiratory toxicity, while exposure to manganese mining was most associated with neurologic toxicity. Notably, no articles were identified that assessed lithium toxicity associated with mining exposure. Traumatic hazards were reported in six studies. Three articles reported infectious disease hazards, while six studies reported effects on mental health. Several studies reported increased health risks in children compared to adults.
The results of this review suggest that occupational and environmental exposure to mining metals used in LIBs presents significant risks to human health that result in both acute and chronic toxicities. Further research is needed to better characterize these risks, particularly regarding lithium mining.
锂离子电池（LIBs）的全球市场正在呈指数级增长，这导致用于制造LIBs的金属的采矿活动增加。钴、锂、锰和镍是LIBs制造中最常用的四种金属，每种金属都存在已知的与接触相关的毒理学风险。这些金属的开采通过职业和环境接触对人类健康构成潜在风险；然而，围绕采矿活动增加的风险的数据却很匮乏。本综述的目的是描述这些风险。
我们通过系统检索PubMed数据库，对有关钴、锂、锰和镍采矿对健康影响的文献进行了综述。我们纳入了以下文章：（1）报告原创研究；（2）报告与人类健康直接相关的结果；（3）评估钴、锂、锰或镍采矿的接触情况；（4）有英文译文。我们排除了所有其他文章。我们的检索共识别出183篇相关文章。
110项研究报告了毒理学危害。接触钴和镍采矿与呼吸道毒性最为相关，而接触锰采矿与神经毒性最为相关。值得注意的是，未发现评估与采矿接触相关的锂毒性的文章。六项研究报告了创伤性危害。三篇文章报告了传染病危害，而六项研究报告了对心理健康的影响。几项研究报告称，与成年人相比，儿童的健康风险增加。
本综述结果表明，职业和环境接触LIBs中使用的采矿金属对人类健康构成重大风险，会导致急性和慢性毒性。需要进一步研究以更好地描述这些风险，特别是关于锂矿开采的风险。
