Fire is a tremendous tool. It’s a godsend for cooking, keeping warm, and manufacturing all manner of goods. But fire is also a ravenous destroyer, one that can raze entire forests, and utterly devastate communities. Fire is also a huge issue with electric vehicles. Lithium-ion battery packs burn with tremendous ferocity and are incredibly difficult to put out, but that’s not all. The fumes these flames produce are incredibly toxic, too.
According to U.S. News and World Report, a research done by folks at the University of Miami’s Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center shows that when electric vehicles burn, they expose people to a wide range of dangerous heavy metals, substances absolutely nobody wants to breathe in.
EV battery fires can release arsenic, cadmium, chromium, nickel, and even lead. According to research, all of these substances are linked to lung cancer, though each one also affects other parts of the body. Arsenic can cause skin, liver, bladder, and even kidney cancers. Cadmium impacts the prostate, pancreas, and breasts. Chromium can lead to nasal and sinus cancers while lead impacts the brain, stomach, and kidneys.
“Many of these metals are associated with increased cancer risk due to their potential to cause DNA damage, oxidative stress, and genetic alterations,” said Dr. Alberto Caban-Martinez, deputy director of Sylvester’s Firefighter Cancer Initiative. Additionally, he noted, “While all fires pose exposure risks, EV fires elevate the risk to firefighters, owners, and the nearby community because they are powered by massive batteries containing high concentrations of heavy metals.”
When an EV burns, it can take thousands and thousands of gallons of water, and many hours to extinguish the battery pack. This is such a challenge that some experts recommend just letting electric vehicles burn until they extinguish themselves. Even when a fire is finally put out, the risks linger. Chemicals left behind on the ground can continue to be a cancer risk.
Firefighters Have An Increased Cancer Risk
But it’s not just the battery pack that’s an issue. All the plastic used in modern vehicles produces huge amounts of noxious fumes when burned, as do the tires. These components may or may not contain the toxic heavy metals a battery pack does, but nobody wants to breathe in fumes from burning plastic.
All of this is particularly troubling for firefighters, the first folks that get called when something ignites that shouldn’t. According to research done over a five-year period by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), these first responders have a nine-percent greater risk of being diagnosed with cancer. Deaths from this disease were also 14 percent higher compared to the broader U.S. population. This study was conducted from 2010 to 2015 and included nearly 30,000 career firefighters.
Modern electric vehicles have a lot of important benefits, but their huge batteries continue to pose a challenge. These packs are not only incredibly expensive to manufacture, but they’re a nightmare if they ever catch on fire.
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