Waseem Ahmed, who owns a scrap godown in Darogha Wala area of Lahore, weighs a used lead battery and reaches out for his wallet in his pocket. He takes out crisp currency notes and hands these over to the person who wants to sell the battery to him.

The rate decided between the two is Rs90 per kg, making the deal close at Rs1,800 for the battery that weighs around 20 kg. The cost of a similar but brand new battery is around Rs12,000. The owner of the battery wants to a buy a new piece so he has decided to sell the old one at whatever rate available in the scrap market.

A lot of people practise this but they are hardly aware of what use the old batteries are put to.

Normally, what happens is that the lead present in the batteries is extracted by burning them in furnaces and ovens in the presence of coal and charcoal -- a process that separates it from other materials such as plastic.

The process is called smelting which, if carried out without taking precautionary measures, can produce lead dust and toxic slag that enters the surrounding environment and contaminates the air, water and soil.

The inhalation of lead can cause serious health issues among people, especially children, such as brain damage, low IQ level, adverse impact on the nervous system, harm to the respiratory system, lungs and kidneys.

"Though, the practice goes on in different parts of the country, it is concentrated in cities like Lahore and Gujranwala that boast a large number of small-scale industrial units and furnaces," says Muhammad Asif, a businessman based in Gujranwala.

He says it is a cottage industry where scavengers supply raw material to people working at small units and the latter extract metals for sale to industrial units. "All they are interested is in making easy money; they have no care for the health of the people and the environment."

According to Asif, areas such as Khiali and Sheikhupura Road are hubs of the activity in Gujranwala. "Here, the extracted metals in molten form are given the shape before being supplied to the buyers. Sometimes the suppliers are meant for industries in Lahore and other cities as well.

"The trade is totally unregulated and undocumented as these units are not registered and do not appear on the radar of the concerned departments."

Asif fixes the responsibility of non-action against these units on the local politicians who provide a cover to these people just to keep their vote bank intact, and calls for an across-the-board action against them.

Naseem-ur-Rehman, Director, Environment Protection Department (EPD), Punjab, confirms the practice of unauthorised lead smelting which is going on in different cities of the province, falls in the purview of the department. "Often, due action is taken against the practitioners," he adds.

"Lead extraction is done all over the world and there is no harm if proper care is taken and Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) are followed."

He cites the example of countries where the workers are bound to wear protective gear and ensure that they do not inhale the rising fumes. "There is a provision for proper ventilation and release of emissions into the air after the removal of harmful particles. Touching lead with bare hands is also prohibited at the recycling plants."

However, he says he is not comfortable with the way the process is carried out by recycling units set up in residential areas and houses by people who take no precautionary steps at all. "They opt for such areas because it is not easy for the concerned departments to locate them easily."

Rehman quotes incidents where fumes and ash rising (from such units) played havoc with the health of the humans and also harmed the vegetation in the surroundings and the livestock feeding on it. "Some time back, a few buffaloes died in Khanewal because they had consumed the ash rising from lead smelting plants that had settled on the vegetation in the surrounding areas."

Unfortunately, no serious attempt has been made to put an end to the practice, despite studies finding high incidences of diseases in areas around lead smelting units.

In one such study, titled ‘Lead exposure and its adverse health effects among occupational worker’s children,’ published by the National Center for Biotechnology Information, US, in 2010, the children of occupational workers elevated Blood Lead Levels as compared to those living at a distance. It was found that hematopoietic (blood cell formation), renal and hepatic functions were also significantly impaired in the lead-exposed children. A total of 246 children aged 1 to 6 years, comprising an equal number (123) from lead smelters/battery recycle plant workers living close to the industries at Wah and Gujranwala and those living 30 km away from the industrial areas had been included in the city.

When asked as to why the government authorities are not tackling the issue effectively, Muhammad Younas Zahid, an officer with EPD, says such setups are temporary and these are routinely shifted from one place to another for fear of being caught and penalised.

"Many [practitioners] simply hire a plot with only the boundary wall around it and a store room, and install a furnace or oven. Some even have these setups inside their houses that are often out of bounds for environment officers."

Zahid, who has served as district environment officer, Lahore, says there are several localities like Misri Shah, Bund Road and Daroghawala where recycling of metals including lead is being carried out in a highly hazardous environment. "One major reason for increase in the trend is that the dependence of people on rechargeable batteries has increased because of excessive load shedding in the country.

"Today, every household owns multiple batteries," he says. "This has increased their demand as well as that of lead which is used in abundance. The lead extracted from batteries has ready buyers in the form of manufacturers of new batteries."

Zahid foresees a further surge in the demand for rechargeable batteries with the increase of hybrid cars coming into the country.

Naseem-ur-Rehman insists the department carried out inspections in different areas and found that people were extracting lead from used batteries by burning them in furnaces and melting the metal. It was also found that the workers employed there were using their bare hands to collect the metal in molten form as well as the residue settling at the base. "The thick smoke rising from there was being released in the atmosphere without being subjected to any treatment.

"What makes matters worse is the fact that the recyclers drain acids such as sulphuric acid and nitric acid present in the abandoned batters that mix with drainage water and harm crops and animals that may drink it.

"Though the department tries its best to check the practice it has to be tackled at the society’s level where people living in the vicinity shall act for their own safety."

No doubt the situation described above calls for a timely action to stop this practice forthwith and ensure that recycling of heavy metals like lead is done only in controlled and protected environments. It is imperative as people may buy mineral water to drink and buy packaged food to eat but they have to inhale the very air that surrounds them. The idea is that it shall be free of lead.