A major investigative report published by The New York Times in partnership with The Examination (a nonprofit global health newsroom) has exposed how unsafe recycling of used lead-acid car batteries in Nigeria is causing widespread lead poisoning, with the extracted “dirty” lead ending up in batteries for major American and global car manufacturers. The story, released on November 18, 2025, is based on independent blood and soil testing, supply chain tracking, and on-the-ground reporting.
- Epicenter of the Crisis: The town of Ogijo (Ogun State, near Lagos, Southwest Nigeria) is described as Africa’s lead recycling capital, hosting at least seven major factories. Primitive methods – workers hacking batteries with machetes, draining acid manually, and smelting lead in open furnaces without proper controls – release toxic lead dust and soot that blankets homes, schools, markets, churches, and farmland.
- Health Impact (Independent Testing): NYT/The Examination commissioned tests on 70 volunteers (residents, children, and factory workers):
- 7 out of 10 had harmful blood lead levels (above WHO thresholds).
- Every single factory worker tested was poisoned (average ~20 µg/dL; some up to 38 µg/dL – WHO safe limit: <5 µg/dL).
- Children and nearby residents reported headaches, stomach pain, memory loss, seizures, fatigue, and learning difficulties.
- Soil/dust samples: Up to 186 times safe limits (e.g., one schoolyard: >1,900 ppm; a hotel room dust: 18,647 ppm).
- Global Supply Chain Link: Tracked shipments show recycled Nigerian lead going to US battery makers (e.g., East Penn Manufacturing) and others in South Korea. These supply batteries to Ford, General Motors, Tesla, Toyota, BMW, Volkswagen, and retailers like Amazon, Walmart, and Lowe’s. The US imported enough Nigerian lead in recent years to produce millions of car batteries.
- Why Nigeria? Lax enforcement, desperate need for jobs, and global demand for cheap recycled lead have shifted the toxic burden from regulated Western countries to the Global South. Factories cut costs by skipping pollution controls, outcompeting cleaner operators.
- Responses: One major US battery maker (East Penn) halted Nigerian lead purchases after seeing the investigation results and is tightening supplier rules. Most automakers (Ford, GM, Tesla, etc.) did not directly respond; some (VW, BMW) said they would investigate. Nigerian factories denied wrongdoing but claimed improvements.
This exposé highlights a dark side of the “green” battery recycling narrative, where environmental gains in the West come at the cost of severe health and ecological damage in Nigeria. While the main sites are in Ogun/Lagos (Southwest), similar informal recycling occurs nationwide, including industrial pollution risks in the Niger Delta from related activities (e.g., oil-related battery use and waste).
