Lithium and battery producers warned the European Union that a proposal to classify the metal as a reproductive toxin could severely hurt Europe’s burgeoning electric vehicle industry.
The material is a key part of EV batteries and widely used in pharmaceuticals, industrial lubricants and specialty glasses.
A proposal being considered by the European Commission this month would put some lithium chemicals in the highest category of reproductive and developmental toxins, based partly on human studies carried out in the 1980s and 1990s.