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Semi-finished product · Electronic components

Lithium-ion cell

One kilogram of lithium-ion battery cells

This page shows what the product is made of and where each figure comes from. It does not show a death toll. The toll is calculated from this list of materials, and will be published only once it has a range and the model has passed its test on past years.

The cells of an electric car's battery, NMC532 chemistry, as modelled in Argonne's GREET from BatPaC 4.0: a 70.6 kWh pack for a 300-mile battery electric vehicle, whose cells weigh 254.63 kg — 3.6 kg of cell per kilowatt-hour. Consumer electronics use lithium cobalt oxide cells, which hold far more cobalt per kilogram; this is not that cell, and a phone's battery is not modelled with it.

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The human cost, per item

One item is one kilogram of lithium-ion battery cells. Scenario Conservative, using FIGARO 2023. Each figure is the middle result of 2,000 runs of the calculation, with the range that holds nine in ten of them beside it, and the grade that range earns.

Deaths

3.0 × 10⁻⁹ per item(2.0–5.3 × 10⁻⁹)LOWS-CONS · run 2151 · methodology v0.1 · data dv-20261007-44r

Deaths per item: the rangeThe range that holds nine in ten of the runs, on a scale where each step is ten times the last: 2.0–5.3 × 10⁻⁹. The dot is the middle result; a figure graded indicative has none.10⁻¹⁰10⁻⁹10⁻⁸10⁻⁷

The product’s list of materials traces 74% of its weight to raw materials the model knows. The rest carries no harm in this method, which is why this method gives a floor.

Injuries

2.0 × 10⁻⁷ per item(1.1–3.8 × 10⁻⁷)LOWS-CONS · run 2151 · methodology v0.1 · data dv-20261007-44r

Injuries per item: the rangeThe range that holds nine in ten of the runs, on a scale where each step is ten times the last: 1.1–3.8 × 10⁻⁷. The dot is the middle result; a figure graded indicative has none.10⁻⁸10⁻⁷10⁻⁶10⁻⁵

The product’s list of materials traces 74% of its weight to raw materials the model knows. The rest carries no harm in this method, which is why this method gives a floor.

Deaths and injuries at work in these figures come from the 53 countries that reported work deaths and the 52 that reported work injuries for 2023.

Harm at work is counted as each country reports it to the UN’s labour statistics (ILOSTAT), and never estimated for a country that did not report: such a country is missing from that year, not counted as zero. So when two years’ figures differ, part of the difference can be a change in which countries reported. The model’s own year-to-year checks compare only countries that reported in both years.

Deaths: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Ecuador, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Korea, Rep., Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritius, Moldova, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Russian Federation, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkiye, Turkmenistan, United States, Uzbekistan

Injuries: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Belgium, Bulgaria, Canada, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Georgia, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Iceland, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mauritius, Moldova, Mongolia, Netherlands, Norway, Panama, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Seychelles, Singapore, Slovak Republic, Slovenia, Spain, Sri Lanka, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, Sweden, Switzerland, Thailand, Turkiye, Turkmenistan, United States, Uzbekistan

The money method — per €1,000 spent

Two methods, never added together. The materials method counts only what the product’s list of materials reaches, so it is a floor. The money method counts the whole supply chain of the industry for each euro spent, so in principle it misses nothing — but it cannot see what this particular product is made of.

In human terms

One death for every 190 million – 500 million items.

By the money method, about €710 million – €1.6 billion of spending in its industry for each death.

Rounded so that it stays within the range, so the sentence never claims more than the range does.

Under each scenario

Five answers to how much of the harm counted in a place is linked to its economy. Same product, same year, same trade table: only the rule for linking harm to the economy changes.

Deaths per item under each scenarioEach line is one scenario’s range, on a scale where each step is ten times the last; the dot is its middle result.10⁻⁹10⁻⁸10⁻⁷10⁻⁶S-MAXEconomic-embeddedS-EVIDEvidence-weightedS-RESResource-onlyS-ARMSArms and resourcesS-CONSConservative

Where it comes from

By raw material — the materials method

By raw material — the materials methodEach bar is one contributor’s share of the deaths in this figure; the rest is grouped last.Cobalt — 43%Cobalt43%Copper — 28%Copper28%Natural graphite — 11%Natural graphite11%Nickel — 9.1%Nickel9.1%Lithium — 8.9%Lithium8.9%Manganese — 0.38%Manganese0.38%Bauxite — <0.1%Bauxite<0.1%

By industry — the money method

By industry — the money methodEach bar is one contributor’s share of the deaths in this figure; the rest is grouped last.Mining and quarrying — 45%Mining and quarrying45%Manufacture of basic metals — 35%Manufacture of basic metals35%Manufacture of electrical equipment — 4.1%Manufacture of electrical equ…4.1%Land transport and transport via pipelines — 3.7%Land transport and transport …3.7%Water transport — 3.3%Water transport3.3%Warehousing and support activities for transportation — 1.7%Warehousing and support activ…1.7%Air transport — 1.5%Air transport1.5%Crop and animal production, hunting and related service activities — 0.94%Crop and animal production, h…0.94%Everything else — 5.0%Everything else5.0%

Where the harm was counted

Where the harm was countedEach dot is a country, placed at its capital, sized by its share of the deaths in this figure.Congo, Dem. Rep. 53%Mexico 16%Sri Lanka 11%Colombia 7.1%Portugal 5.0%Australia — 2.2%Canada — 1.8%Russian Federation — 1.3%Turkiye — 1.1%Argentina — 0.98%Poland — 0.37%United States — 0.36%Georgia — 0.18%Romania — <0.1%Austria — <0.1%Greece — <0.1%Norway — <0.1%
Each circle is a country, at its capital, sized by its share of the deaths in this figure. The largest are named; point at or tap any other circle to see its name.
Every material, in full
By raw material — the materials method
MaterialShareDeaths per item
Cobalt 43%1.3 × 10⁻⁹
Copper 28%8.4 × 10⁻¹⁰
Natural graphite 11%3.2 × 10⁻¹⁰
Nickel 9.1%2.7 × 10⁻¹⁰
Lithium 8.9%2.7 × 10⁻¹⁰
Manganese 0.38%1.1 × 10⁻¹¹
Bauxite <0.1%1.1 × 10⁻¹²

The chain, step by step

The largest step at each stage of the model. Each links to the full account, where every stage adds up to the headline figure.

  1. Lithium-ion cell
  2. Cobalt 43% of the figure
  3. Congo, Dem. Rep. 53% of the figure
  4. Conflict and political violence 73% of the figure
  5. DR Congo (Zaire): Government 38% of the figure

The full breakdown →

Sources behind this figure

Every data file that went into this figure in this calculation, with the credit its licence asks for.

What this figure is not

Production phase only. Harm from using the product — driving the car, charging the phone — is not in this figure.

How to read these numbers →

Beside the most similar products

The two products whose deaths per kilogram are closest to this one’s, by the materials method.

Cite this figure

HumanToll 2026, run 2151, methodology v0.1. https://quiescence.eu/humantoll/product/lithium-ion-cell/

What it is made of

Each line is one part of one kilogram of lithium-ion battery cells: how much of it goes in, how much had to be produced to get that much (some is wasted along the way), and where the figure comes from.

What it is made of
Component Quantity Source
NMC cathode powder
part 		476 g Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition… · high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 121.11 kg of cathode active material in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 475.63 g per kilogram of cell
Natural graphite
part 		244 g Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition… · high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 62.07 kg of graphite in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 243.77 g per kilogram of cell. Graphite is not in HumanToll's materials register, so this mass reaches no supply chain Registered as the material `graphite` on 2026-09-18 from USGS natural graphite. SYNTHETIC graphite, a large share of real anode material, is made from petroleum coke and is not this material; the source does not say which this is, and natural graphite is the assumption.
Copper
part 		86.3 g Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition… · high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 21.97 kg of copper, the anode current collector in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 86.28 g per kilogram of cell
Aluminium
part 		48.6 g Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition… · high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 12.38 kg of aluminium, the cathode current collector in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 48.62 g per kilogram of cell
Ethylene carbonate (electrolyte solvent)
part 		45.3 g Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition… · high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 11.53 kg of ethylene carbonate in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 45.28 g per kilogram of cell
Dimethyl carbonate (electrolyte solvent)
part 		45.3 g Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition… · high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 11.53 kg of dimethyl carbonate in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 45.28 g per kilogram of cell
Lithium hexafluorophosphate (electrolyte salt)
part 		16.2 g Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition… · high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 4.13 kg of LiPF6 in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 16.22 g per kilogram of cell. The salt is 4.6% lithium by molar mass; it is carried whole here, not split
Polyvinylidene fluoride binder
part 		14.9 g Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition… · high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 3.79 kg of PVDF binder in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 14.88 g per kilogram of cell
Carbon black (conductive additive)
part 		9.90 g Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition… · high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 2.52 kg of carbon black in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 9.9 g per kilogram of cell
Polypropylene (separator and casing)
part 		9.74 g Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition… · high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 2.48 kg of polypropylene in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 9.74 g per kilogram of cell
Polyethylene terephthalate
part 		2.28 g Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition… · high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 0.58 kg of PET in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 2.28 g per kilogram of cell
Polyethylene (separator)
part 		2.20 g Winjobi, Dai and Kelly (2020), Update of Bill-of-Materials and Cathode Chemistry addition… · high
Table 8 (Appendix), BOMs of EV battery cells, modules and packs — the BEV NMC532 column: 0.56 kg of polyethylene in a cell subtotal of 254.63 kg, which is 2.2 g per kilogram of cell

Down to raw materials

The whole chain worked out — everything one kilogram of lithium-ion battery cells needs, through every product in between, with all the waste along the way included.

Down to raw materials
Input Per item
Bauxite 194 g
Cobalt 59.8 g
Copper 86.3 g
Lithium 34.0 g
Manganese 80.8 g
Natural graphite 244 g
Nickel 148 g
Carbon black (conductive additive) (not in the register) 9.90 g
Dimethyl carbonate (electrolyte solvent) (not in the register) 45.3 g
Electricity, calcination (not in the register) 3.02 kWh
Ethylene carbonate (electrolyte solvent) (not in the register) 45.3 g
Lithium hexafluorophosphate (electrolyte salt) (not in the register) 16.2 g
Natural gas, precursor co-precipitation (not in the register) 5.09 kWh
Oxygen, chemically bound (not in the register) 153 g
Polyethylene (separator) (not in the register) 2.20 g
Polyethylene terephthalate (not in the register) 2.28 g
Polypropylene (separator and casing) (not in the register) 9.74 g
Polyvinylidene fluoride binder (not in the register) 14.9 g

An input marked “not in the register” is counted by weight but is not yet linked to any supply chain. Services such as transport appear as the euros, or tonnes carried a kilometre, that the list of materials gives them.

How much of it is known in detail

100% of this product’s weight is listed in detail in its own list of materials.

Its whole chain uses 1.15 kg of materials, waste included. 74% of that is raw materials the model knows — the part it can trace harm to — 26% is inputs not yet on the list, and 0% is an openly stated remainder.

In the table of what industries buy from each other it belongs to “Manufacture of electrical equipment” (FIGARO industry C27).

In the table of what industries buy from each other it belongs to “Manufacture of electrical equipment” (FIGARO industry C27).

What uses it

Products whose own list of materials includes this one.

Sources

Products →

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