Be’ah ups the ante against lead-acid batteries
Times News Service
MUSCAT: People in Oman can expect safer air and soil, thanks to the work that Be’ah, Oman’s Environmental Services Holding Company, has done in the past years.
Be’ah has begun to intensify environmental work by signing deals with major users of batteries and by providing special containers to companies in order to limit human and environmental exposure to used lead-acid batteries.
According to a spokesperson from Be’ah, “The Sultanate used to see harmful practices, particularly when it came to used car batteries, which impact both people and the environment. This is something we have worked to change in the past years.”
Lead exposure is a worldwide danger and accounted for “4,95,550 deaths” worldwide in 2015, according to the World Health Organisation. Furthermore, “infants and young children are particularly vulnerable to lead exposure and toxicity. Frequent hand-to-mouth activity means that young children ingest lead in dust”, WHO added.
In Senegal, 18 children died “from an aggressive central nervous system disease in a suburb of Dakar” between November 2007 and March 2008. In the months prior to the deaths, residents started sifting lead-enriched soil and bringing it to their homes to separate and sell fragments of lead. When “81 members of the community were examined, all were found to have high blood lead concentrations”. To protect Oman and regulate the market, Be’ah signed agreements with Mwasalat, Bank Muscat, and Ooredo, whereby Be’ah will collect used batteries from these institutions to a certified treatment area for the batteries to be recycled. According to the company, “Be’ah has brought in more SMEs to contribute to gathering these batteries.”
The company also provides special containers for the disposal of used batteries, which contain isolating layers that stop the acid from leaking and causing harm.
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