Due to the fact that lots of lithium is harmful to the body, and could cause brain or kidney damage, lithium has to be disposed and extracted very carefully. If these processes are not done carefully they could damage the environment and society. The extraction of lithium has significant environmental and social impacts due to them causing pollution and reduction. To process lithium, toxic chemicals are essential, the release of such chemicals through emissions could harm communities, their ecosystems and food production as the chemicals could make them toxic. Lithium extractions also harms the soil. The areas where lithium is extracted from are very dry territories. For the local communities living next to these extraction areas, water is essential for wellbeing and the farming of the area. In Chile’s salt flats, lithium mining consumes, contaminates and diverts water resources. This has caused many water related conflicts with different local communities. One of the community claims that these extractions have contaminated their streams which were used to provide water to humans and farming. Aronson, J. K. “Lithium."
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There are also other environmental problems in disposing lithium batteries. These batteries have to be disposed in a certain way to avoid harming the environment. Lithium batteries have to be recycled to prevent it:
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