Perry Gottesfeld, executive director at Occupational Knowledge (OK) International, spoke at Ashland University. His lecture was titled “Global Health Implications of the Transition to ‘Clean’ Electric Vehicles.”

Gottesfeld explained that climate change is greatly contributing to the health impacts in our society. Due to this issue of climate change, he described a big shift to electric transportation and hybrid cars.

These vehicles are operated by lithium-ion batteries, which require many types of metal to create. With the transition to electric cars there will be a need for materials and thus more mining. Some of the effects this might cause would be detrimental to the environment, to miner’s health and to the consumer’s health.

Some of the solutions Gottesfeld suggested were increasing recycling efforts for lithium-ion batteries, increasing public transportation and shifting to smaller vehicles, improving health and safety practices in mining and smelting, and banning exports of used hybrid and electric vehicles or requiring take back of the batteries.

However, he also said there were many health benefits by reducing air pollution.

Gottesfeld stated, “Majority of the air pollution benefits comes from the shift away from emissions sources at ground level in urban areas to power plants in less congested areas.”

There were approximately 80-90 people in attendance and there was also an option for participants to attend virtually.

OK International was established by Gottesfeld in 1999. The non-governmental organization is devoted to promoting public health and the environment in developing countries by using innovative approaches to limit exposure to hazardous elements such as industrial pollution. By collaborating with governments, corporations and other non-governmental organizations, OK International overcomes imbalances in environmental standards by offering technical support, training and certification programs.

From 2019 to 2021, Gottesfeld was a member of the California Environmental Protection Agency’s Lithium-ion Car Battery Recycling Advisory Committee.

The lecture was co-sponsored by the AU Honors Program, AU’s Environmental Science Program and AU’s NSF Science Scholars Program. The lecture was part of a 2022-2023 Environmental Lecture Series on global commerce, biodiversity and human health.

The upcoming lectures in this series include “Biological and geographical diversification of natural rubber: US supply security, rural development, and public health” by Dr. Katrina Cornish on Thursday, Feb. 2, 2023 and “Save the Earth: 10 Reasons to Buy Better Chocolate” by Dr. Romi Burks on Thursday, March 30, 2023.