The Great Battery Mystery

Today we went to Bahai Honda State Park in order to eat, relax, but most importantly collect trash. We went to a closed off section of the beach with a park ranger and split into two groups to start collecting. Through the extreme heat and terrible smell from the piles of sargassum and detritus washed up on shore, we pushed forward to fill bags with trash. Each team wanted to find the most and the weirdest objects to collect and bring back. There was plenty of plastic bottles, forks, spoons, rope, and an odd number of shoes and toothbrushes. The weirdest thing that I found was a large “access battery” washed up on shore. It stood out from everything else we collected as being so unique and different and I can only imagine the story of how such an object would end up on shore, especially with how heavy it is and how likely important it was to what ever craft or machine it came from. 

As of now I still don’t know what it came from and trying to find out more about its origins is next to impossible without more information about it. The question then came to me, if plastics are so dangerous to the environment as they break up into microplastics, then what kind of damage could a large battery do? Batteries contain a toxic sludge of chemicals like lithium, cadmium and mercury. When the battery is left in saltwater it slowly corrodes and breaks apart, releasing the chemicals into the environment. The chemicals potency and toxicity can be so bad that battery litter can kill plants and animals alike. This could spell a huge risk for the fragile coral reef ecosystems down here in Florida as the corals, fish, and invertebrate species are already under enough stress from other pollutants. If even larger batteries like car batteries are dumped, they could be even deadlier as their chemical mixtures are often much higher in heavy metals and toxic elements like Sulphur. Removing the battery from this beach was very good for the surrounding ecosystem and luckily it seems this battery hadn’t been lost for long enough for its interior to be corroded away and exposed. While batteries are much less common of a pollutant then plastics, it is still important that people remember they are very hazardous waste and need to be disposed of properly and safely to avoid hurting the environment. 

If you want to learn more about the Bahia Honda State Park we were cleaning at you can check this link:
https://bahiahondapark.com/

If you want to learn more about battery pollution, it's effects on the environment, and how to properly recycle them, you can click here:
https://sciencing.com/environmental-problems-batteries-cause-7584347.html