Silent Sacrifice: Communities Paying the Price for Green Technology

Source Article: Banza Lubaba Nkulu, C., Casas, L., Haufroid, V., De Putter, T., Saenen, N. D., Kayembe-Kitenge, T., Musa Obadia, P., Kyanika Wa Mukoma, D., Lunda Ilunga, J.-M., Nawrot, T. S., Luboya Numbi, O., Smolders, E., & Nemery, B. (2018). Sustainability of artisanal mining of cobalt in DR Congo. Nature Sustainability, 1(9), 495–504. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41893-018-0139-4

Additional Article: Earl, C., Shah, I. H., Cook, S., & Cheeseman, C. R. (2022). Environmental Sustainability and Supply Resilience of Cobalt. Sustainability, 14(7), 4124. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14074124

Featured Image Caption: Terms and Conditions (2023) by Artistguides via Wikimedia Commons licensed by Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0. A mural by Hendog depicts a child from Congo picking cobalt (represented by the Apple logo) with a pick (represented by the Tesla logo). This shows how child labour is exploited by technological advancement such as electronic cars and devices which require cobalt. 

Cobalt Mining and Its Necessity 

Cobalt is an essential material for many modern technologies, which has created a massive global demand and driven increasingly intensive mining operations across the world. Cobalt is a critical component in lithium ion batteries, which are used in smartphones, computers, electric vehicles and numerous other devices. As electric vehicles become more popular and technology continues to dominate everyday life, the demand for cobalt is rising exponentially. 

The mining for cobalt is extensive and often exploitative, with the Dominican Republic of Congo (DRC) in particular at the center of global production. The Katanga Copperbelt alone supplies more than half of the world’s cobalt mining production (over 60%), with 15-20% being extracted from artisanal mines which are generally small-scale, labour intensive, and informal or often illegal in nature. While electric vehicles are often framed as “green” and environmentally friendly, the cobalt extraction necessary for powering these vehicles can have severe environmental and human consequences for local communities. 

Environmental Degradation from Artisanal Mining

The DRC has a particularly high number of artisanal miners–although the actual number is difficult to quantify because artisanal cobalt mining is often informal and illegal. The widespread presence of these miners in the DRC is due to the availability and relatively easy access of heterogenite–a compound that is formed from a combination of cobalt, oxide, and hydroxide and found close to the surface. While heterogenite is often easily accessible, the actual extraction process is precarious and hazardous. This intensive form of mining poses serious issues concerning both environmental sustainability and the health of surrounding communities that are impacted. Mining operations degrade the environment by unleashing toxic waste via mining tailings and the dust that is created from the activities. This toxic waste contaminates the surrounding environment from water sources to the air that people breathe.

This article examines a case study in Kolwezi, a city home to approximately 450,000 people and large open pit mines in the DRC. This area was chosen because of the prevalent artisanal cobalt mining extractions there that had local authorities, civil society, and non governmental organizations concerned about the health risks for the locals living there. Kolwezi is where artisanal cobalt mining began, and mining activities quickly overtook the area, destroying natural land and urban ecosystems. The mines resulted in large tailing piles containing toxic waste which are left in residential areas and contribute to the contamination of the air, soil, and household environments in the surrounding area. Other causes of contamination can come from the spillage of ore hoisted from the mining pits which are then handled or stored inside or on personal properties and the dust pollution that arises from mining. This dust contains dangerous heavy metals, and settles on household surfaces, food, clothing, toys and water sources. It creates an unsafe environment that continuously exposes residents to toxic substances through everyday life from working to simply breathing. 

Environmental Degradation Ultimately Harms Humans

The environmental degradation from the local artisanal mining operations left surrounding communities with high exposure to toxic metals that directly entered the bodies of residents through contaminated air, dust, and surfaces. In this study, researchers collected blood and urine samples from individuals living within 3km of artisanal mining sites and compared them to those from a control group living outside of the affected area. Both adults and children were included to better understand how exposure varied by age. 

The results revealed alarmingly high levels of toxic metals in the exposed residents who lived closer to artisanal mines. Children living in mining-affected areas had cobalt concentrations that were found to be 9.3 times higher than those of the children living outside of the affected area. Exposed adults also showed significantly elevated levels, with concentrations about 5.2 times higher than individuals in the control group. These findings show that the polluted environment directly translated into severe internal contamination, with children in particular being the most vulnerable.

Other minerals closely associated with cobalt including uranium and manganese were also found in high levels in the urine of both the children and adults of exposed residents in comparison to the control participants. Miners were impacted heavily in particular as well, having cobalt, manganese and uranium levels 2-11 times higher than other adult residents in control or exposed participants. The blood results were similar to the urine results for cobalt, finding similarly higher concentrations in the exposed residents, but uranium levels were too hard to detect in the blood, and manganese levels either did not differ, or were lower in exposed children which was unexpected. 

What Does This Mean for Exposed Groups?

These high levels of heavy metals in the exposed residents poses major health implications as cobalt, uranium, and manganese have severe impacts on humans. Manganese is neurotoxic, while uranium is both neurotoxic and nephrotoxic. Neurotoxicity is damage to the brain, spinal cord, or nerves which can impair cognitive ability and brain functioning. Nephrotoxicity is damage to the kidneys which are essential for the body to filter waste in the blood. These two metals can cause birth defects, neurodevelopmental impairment, respiratory disorders, heart and kidney diseases, and cancer. Exposure to the different metals can cause oxidative DNA damage as well, which can be especially harmful to exposed children. This can create genetic and epigenetic changes in children which can increase risks of cancer later on in life.

Environmental Injustice and Sustainability

The harmful exposure of dangerous metals to communities in Kolwezi reflect a broader pattern of environmental injustice. The necessity for cobalt around the world, especially in wealthier countries producing technologies with lithium ion batteries, contributes to these unsafe environments. Countries like Canada, the U.S., and China benefit from “clean” electric vehicles and technologies, while people in the DRC suffer the environmental and health costs of cobalt extraction. 

Artisanal mining constitutes the second largest employment sector of the DRC, and because of the high demand for cobalt, industrial operators are encouraged or tolerant of the exploitation of them. This keeps many families trapped in a cycle of dangerous labour and environmental destruction for survival. Poor governance, corruption, and weak environmental regulations, combined with high global demand and a disregard for sustainability by buyers of cobalt, have allowed this crisis to continue. 

Ultimately, to have sustainable cobalt mining operations that do not harm both the environment and local communities, stronger regulations are needed and communities must be protected. Buyers must be held accountable for the environmental and social impacts that are caused, and a circular economy that recycles cobalt must be developed. Until these changes are made, the environmental damage and human sacrifice behind green technologies will continue.

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