电池有什么问题?

电池有什么问题?

We are a country that loves our electronic gadgets, but when it comes to keeping them charged, it gets complicated.

我们是一个热爱电子产品的国家，但要给它们充电就变得复杂了。

Batteries can be divided into two broad categories: dry-cell and wet-cell batteries. (Photo: John Seb Barber [CC by 2.0]/Flickr)

Whether it's a standard alkaline AA battery in your smoke detector, a rechargeable nickel-metal hydride in your cellphone or a wet-cell car battery, most of them contain toxic chemicals like cadmium, lead, zinc, manganese, nickel, silver, mercury and lithium.

无论是烟雾探测器中的标准碱性AA电池，手机中的可充电镍氢电池，还是湿电池汽车电池，大多数都含有镉、铅、锌、锰、镍、银、汞和锂等有毒化学物质。

Though it seems like a relatively minor act, tossing a battery in your trash can lead to some seriously harmful effects on the environment.

虽然这看起来是一个相对较小的行为，但把电池扔进垃圾桶会对环境造成严重的危害。

If a battery winds up in an unlined landfill, it may leach its metals into the soil, contaminating groundwater supply. And if it burns up in an incinerator, that's just more toxic junk drifting up into the air we breathe.

如果电池最终被丢弃在没有衬里的垃圾填埋场，它可能会将金属渗入土壤，污染地下水供应。如果它在焚化炉里燃烧，那只是更多的有毒垃圾飘到我们呼吸的空气中。

If that's not scary enough, consider that if they're not disposed of properly, they can short circuit, overheat and burst into flames. Depending on where you live, it may even be illegal to dispose of a battery.

如果这还不够可怕的话，想想看，如果处理不当，它们可能会短路、过热并起火。根据你的居住地不同，丢弃电池甚至可能是违法的。

Battery life

电池寿命

Check your state laws before tossing that battery in the trash. (Photo: Aaron Hall [CC by SA 2.0]/Flickr)

Over the years, batteries have been made out of some seriously toxic stuff. Thankfully, mercury is now out of the picture. Congress passed the Battery Act in 1996, which called for the phasing out of mercury in batteries, and with it, country-wide, cost-effective solutions to recycling and proper disposal.

多年来，电池是由一些严重有毒的物质制成的。值得庆幸的是，水星现在已经不存在了。国会在1996年通过了《电池法案》，该法案要求逐步淘汰电池中的汞，并在全国范围内采用经济有效的方法来回收和妥善处理汞。

When it comes to choosing the right battery, it all depends on how much you'll use it. The carbon footprint of manufacturing a single battery is huge. According to a study from MIT's Department of Materials Science and Engineering, 88% of a single-use battery's environmental output comes from its sourcing and processing.

说到选择合适的电池，这完全取决于你会用多少。制造一个电池的碳足迹是巨大的。根据麻省理工学院材料科学与工程系的一项研究，88%的一次性电池的环境产出来自其采购和加工。

On top of that, the chemical compounds found in our batteries don't exactly grow on trees. They're full of manganese dioxide, graphite, zinc, and potassium hydroxide — all of which come from mining and refining.

最重要的是，我们的电池中发现的化合物并不长在树上。它们富含二氧化锰、石墨、锌和氢氧化钾——所有这些都来自于采矿和精炼。

The hidden costs of batteries

电池的隐性成本

Men who work in this sulfur mine in Indonesia deal with brutal heat, toxic fumes and heavy loads in exchange for very little money. (Photo: Jean-Marie Hullot [CC by SA 2.0]/Wikimedia Commons)

A recent deep investigative dive into the hidden costs of Amazon's "store-brand" batteries revealed a host of problems behind a basic battery's life cycle. While big battery players like China, Japan and Korea are still in the game, Indonesia is an up-and-comer, thanks to its rich deposits of natural resources and lax environmental regulations.

最近对亚马逊“商店品牌”电池隐藏成本的深入调查揭示了基本电池生命周期背后的一系列问题。虽然中国、日本和韩国等大型电池厂商仍在参与竞争，但印尼凭借丰富的自然资源和宽松的环境法规，已成为后起之先。

Think sustainably, and assess all of your options before tossing that next battery pack in your shopping cart. Though they may seem innocuous lying dormant in your TV remote, a lot lurks beneath the surface of your everyday battery.

在把下一个电池组扔进你的购物车之前，可持续地思考，评估你所有的选择。虽然它们躺在你的电视遥控器里看似无害，但在你日常使用的电池表面下却隐藏着很多。

Dr. David Santillo, a senior scientist at Greenpeace Research Laboratories, told The Guardian: "We have to get smarter at recovering and reusing the vast quantities that we have already extracted from the earth, rather than relying on continued pursuit of new reserves of ever poorer quality and at substantial environmental cost."

绿色和平组织资深科学家大卫·桑提洛博士研究实验室,告诉《卫报》:“我们必须更聪明地恢复和再利用我们已经从地球中提取的庞大数量，而不是依靠不断追求以巨大的环境成本为代价的新储备。”