https://www.theverge.com/24194493/forever-chemicals-pfas-lithium-ion-ev-rechargeable-batteries
Rechargeable lithium-ion batteries used in everyday gadgets, electric vehicles, and to store renewable energy could be a growing source of the “forever chemicals” that pollute soil and waterways, new research suggests.
“Forever chemicals” encompass thousands of different kinds of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS). For decades, they’ve been used to make products more resistant to water, stains, and heat. More recently, a particular subclass of PFAS called bis-perfluoroalkyl sulfonimides (bis-FASIs) has been used as electrolytes and binders in lithium-ion batteries.
Those bis-FASIs are now showing up in soil, sediment, water, and snow surrounding manufacturing facilities, according to research published yesterday in the journal Nature Communications. The study authors also found bis-FASIs in liquids that leached from landfills.
. . . Taken together, it points to lithium-ion batteries as a potential vector for forever chemical pollution from cradle to grave. Without taking action, it’s a problem that could grow as more pieces of our lives become all-electric — from cars to homes and buildings.
There are concepts for more kinds of batteries. Meaningful research into them however has ground to a crawl.
Because everybody hopped on board the Lithium Battery train.
It's fine to "hop on the train" as it were, but having batteries be from such a finite resource is of course creating an issue in the very long term whereas something like a graphene battery is a good bit more sustainable, and even then that may not be the end all either.
Graphene based batteries, including graphene aluminum ion, look very promising and to be in greater use in the next ten years or so.