Used Lead-Acid Batteries from Nigeria's Off-Grid Solar Sector: Environmental Health Risks, Regulatory Gaps and Circular-Economy Responses
George-Oloja Nkechinyere *
Public Health (Environmental and Occupational Health), Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, Nigeria.
Muoka Precious Dubem
Department of Biochemistry, School of Biological Science, Federal University of Technology, Owerri, Imo. State, Nigeria.
Gerald Chekwube Ezeamii
Department of Environmental Management, School of Science and Engineering, Glasgow Caledonian University, UK.
*Author to whom correspondence should be addressed.
Abstract
Background: Nigeria’s rapid expansion of off-grid solar systems is increasing the use and eventual disposal of lead-acid batteries, yet the contribution of solar-derived batteries to the country’s wider used lead-acid battery waste stream remains poorly quantified.
Aim: This narrative review examined the management of used lead-acid batteries from Nigeria’s off-grid solar sector, associated environmental and public-health risks, regulatory gaps, and circular-economy responses.
Methodology: MEDLINE, Scopus, the Cochrane Library and Google Scholar were searched from inception to August 2026, together with relevant institutional and Nigerian government sources. Evidence was categorised as Nigerian solar-battery evidence, Nigerian lead-acid battery evidence of unspecified origin, evidence from other African settings, or general lead toxicology.
Results: No identified Nigerian study directly attributed measured lead exposure or contamination to batteries originating from off-grid solar systems. However, evidence from the wider Nigerian battery-recycling stream shows substantial occupational and environmental hazards. Informal recycling workers had a mean blood lead level of 40.17 µg/dL compared with 3.61 µg/dL among controls, while soil lead concentrations reached 29,000 ppm outside recycling facilities. Nigeria has battery regulations and an extended producer-responsibility framework, but important implementation gaps remain in enforcement, traceability, institutional coordination and informal-sector oversight.
Conclusion: The downstream environmental and health burden attributable specifically to off-grid solar batteries remains unquantified. Source-level traceability at collection is therefore necessary to distinguish solar batteries within the wider waste stream and support sector-specific accountability.
Keywords: Used lead-acid batteries, off-grid solar, lead exposure, extended producer responsibility, circular economy, informal recycling