# So there are are used batteries EVERYWHERE. My question is why. **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [September 9, 2008, 4:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-are-are-used-batteries-everywhere-my-question-is-why/462801 "2008-09-09T16:59:27Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![Mr.Frink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/977dab/32.png) [@Mr.Frink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mr.Frink)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 9:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-are-are-used-batteries-everywhere-my-question-is-why/462801/21 "2008-09-09T21:26:38Z")
> [@Birdmonster](#): > > In all seriousness, is a bucket filled with lead wheel weights 100 feet away from me cause for any real concern? I’m thankful for the warning, don’t get me wrong, but is it really a danger? The big danger from lead would come from inhaling it. The concern would be that these weights may have been battered by vehicles running over them…may be crumbly or flaking. But if the bucket is just sitting there…a 100 feet away–I wouldn’t think that anyone would be in extreme danger. Just something your friend might want to be aware of, that’s all… ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 9:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-are-are-used-batteries-everywhere-my-question-is-why/462801/22 "2008-09-09T21:28:55Z")
Thanks **Mr. Frink.** Strangely, it sounds like an asbestos issue: not dangerous unless old, crumbly, and flaking. Of course, if he had an asbestos collection, I would’ve kicked him out like Puck. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 9:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-are-are-used-batteries-everywhere-my-question-is-why/462801/23 "2008-09-09T21:47:06Z")
> [@Mr.Frink](#): > > Sorry to hijack your post…but you may want to point out to your friend that his “hobby” may not be the safest thing in the world. Most of these [wheel weights are made of lead-](http://www.greenlivingtips.com/blogs/289/Lead-wheel-weights.html)-a proven [neurotoxin](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead_poisoning). Not something I’d want to handle a lot of, and I certainly wouldn’t keep any in my house! If anything, you may want to recommend that your friend not show off his collection to any young children. Not to downplay the danger of lead, but if you have drapes in your living room, the weights that keep them hanging nicely are likely made of lead, as are fishing sinkers, bullets, etc. ---
**Author:** ![Yllaria](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/yllaria/32/3452_2.png) [@Yllaria](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Yllaria)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 10:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-are-are-used-batteries-everywhere-my-question-is-why/462801/24 "2008-09-09T22:04:51Z")
The youngest boy is pushing thirty, now. About a year ago I started kidding him about the drifts of batteries that he’d leave behind him. I started calling them Hisname-poo. They were AA and AAA, and I have lost track of the devices that they came from. If he borrowed the van, I’d find a few in the arm rest, or the ash tray, or the cup holders. I’d find stashes around the house. After having it brought to his attention, he started leaving them in a pile on my desk, to be neater about it. And because the easiest way to dispose of them properly was for me to take them in to work. The drift of batteries has slowed in the last few months. I think that means that most of his stuff is rechargeable now. So I’ve shifted to calling empty water bottles Hisname-poo. We’ll see how that works. ---
**Author:** ![Dog80](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/6bbea6/32.png) [@Dog80](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dog80)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 10:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-are-are-used-batteries-everywhere-my-question-is-why/462801/25 "2008-09-09T22:56:18Z")
Modern wheel balancing weights are NOT made out of lead. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 11:03pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-are-are-used-batteries-everywhere-my-question-is-why/462801/26 "2008-09-09T23:03:01Z")
> [@Dog80](#): > > Modern wheel balancing weights are NOT made out of lead. Back to brushing my teeth with wheel weights. ---
**Author:** ![groman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/73ab20/32.png) [@groman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/groman)\ **Post date:** [September 9, 2008, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-are-are-used-batteries-everywhere-my-question-is-why/462801/27 "2008-09-09T23:41:35Z")
> [@Birdmonster](#): > > There are enough batteries that it can’t be something random. Is there something I’m missing? Is this like the old shoe we so often see off the side of the highway? Can the Dope bring me closure? The exciting answers, after this post. They are a very common metal object that rolls downhill, does not float, and takes awhile to degrade. It’s very possible that if you are swapping batteries outdoors and drop one, it will roll into the gutter (which are positioned so that water would flow into them) before you could catch up to it. I bet some of those batteries were dropped as new. ---
**Author:** ![Richard\_Parker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/35a633/32.png) [@Richard\_Parker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Richard_Parker)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 12:10am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-are-are-used-batteries-everywhere-my-question-is-why/462801/28 "2008-09-10T00:10:23Z")
I can confirm that the streets/subways of New York are lousy with batteries. I sort of like the theory that says this is just a particularly stable form of litter, that is no more or less common that other forms of litter. On the other hand, I see people littering all the time and I’ve never seen anyone toss a battery. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 8:58am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-are-are-used-batteries-everywhere-my-question-is-why/462801/29 "2008-09-10T08:58:36Z")
> [@Dog80](#): > > Modern wheel balancing weights are NOT made out of lead. What are they made of? The ones I’ve found recently look like lead. - I realise there are other malleable, greyish-silver metals and alloys, but which one? ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 9:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-are-are-used-batteries-everywhere-my-question-is-why/462801/30 "2008-09-10T09:02:36Z")
I will tentatively suggest that _part_ of the reason the OP keeps seeing discarded batteries is some kind of confirmation bias thing - once you’ve really noticed them, you can’t help noticing them. I did exactly the same thing with [lost gloves](http://www.atomicshrimp.com/st/content/lost_gloves/). Of course that’s not the whole story - the things have to be there for you to see them, but the point is, there are a range of other common objects you might find discarded with the same or greater frequency as batteries - I think you’re seeing them everywhere _partly_ because you’re looking for them. ---
**Author:** ![Rhythmdvl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/85f322/32.png) [@Rhythmdvl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rhythmdvl)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-are-are-used-batteries-everywhere-my-question-is-why/462801/31 "2008-09-10T09:20:20Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > What are they made of? Depends. If they’re from a boy’s cars, then most likely baseball cards and clothespins. If from a girl’s car, then sugar and spice, etc. ---
**Author:** ![cochrane](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cochrane/32/10441_2.png) [@cochrane](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cochrane)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 9:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-are-are-used-batteries-everywhere-my-question-is-why/462801/32 "2008-09-10T09:31:48Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Well, if people are discarding many, many AA batteries, you’re looking for an appliance that runs on them, is ubiquitous, and, if it fails, is going to have its batteries replaced on the spot. > > Given that you’re in SF, I’m gonna go with digital cameras. A fair number of point&shoots use AA batteries and, if you’re not using rechargeable batteries, they die very quickly. (Mind you, I’m not even going to try to analyze the mind of someone who thinks the area is photogenic enough to take pictures, but doesn’t mind chucking trash in the gutter.) Some MP players and radios do run on AA batteries, so that’s another possibility. Toys are a reasonable guess, because not only are they going to go through a tremendous number of batteries, but one can easily see how whipping batteries out of a car window might be amusing for kids. Finally, I suppose those battery-powered emergency cell-phone chargers might contribute. > > The other consumers of AA batteries seem less likely – limited numbers of people are going to be wandering the streets of SF with flashlights, hand-held GPS receivers or other, more dubious buzzing appliances. (That last sentence may just indicate my lack of familiarity with certain districts of SF). To those, you can add portable CD players. I have a crapload of those that run on AA batteries. ---
**Author:** ![Finagle](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/b19c9b/32.png) [@Finagle](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Finagle)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 11:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-are-are-used-batteries-everywhere-my-question-is-why/462801/33 "2008-09-10T11:55:11Z")
> [@cochrane](#): > > To those, you can add portable CD players. I have a crapload of those that run on AA batteries. Yeah, but nowadays, you’re just as likely to find the portable CD player in the gutter as the batteries it runs on. If not obsolete, they’re certainly on the endangered appliance list. ---
**Author:** ![Cluricaun](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/bb73d2/32.png) [@Cluricaun](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Cluricaun)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 1:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-are-are-used-batteries-everywhere-my-question-is-why/462801/34 "2008-09-10T13:33:12Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > What are they made of? The ones I’ve found recently look like lead. - I realise there are other malleable, greyish-silver metals and alloys, but which one? Mostly steel or zinc alloys. I know this because I also collect wheel weights (well I did) to use to melt down and make my own fishing sinkers and jigheads and there’s no way a little electric burner in the garage is going to melt steel or zinc. Lead is getting increasingly expensive, as any fisherman or shooter who reloads his own rounds can tell you. ---
**Author:** ![vetbridge](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/v/b5e925/32.png) [@vetbridge](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/vetbridge)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 1:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-are-are-used-batteries-everywhere-my-question-is-why/462801/35 "2008-09-10T13:55:16Z")
> [@Dog80](#): > > Modern wheel balancing weights are NOT made out of lead. Cite? Everything I’ve read suggests that other than California, which is phasing them out by 2009, [they are mostly lead.](http://www.epa.gov/osw/hazard/wastemin/nlfwwi.htm). From the EPA link: > [@](#): > > Lead Wheel Weight Quick Facts > > ``` > * There are 200 million autos and light trucks on the nation's roadways. > * Sixteen million new autos are produced annually in the United States. > * An average of 4.5 ounces of lead is clipped to the wheel rims of every automobile in the United States. > * Approximately 50 million pounds of lead is used annually to produce tire weights worldwide in autos and light trucks. > * 75% is recycled by secondary lead smelters. > * 25% (or 12.5 million pounds annually) is uncontrolled or unmanaged in the environment. > * 13% of the 12.5 million pounds (1.6 million pounds) is lost when wheel weights fall off during normal driving conditions (e.g., hitting a pot hole). > * 87% of the 12.5 millions pounds (10.9 milion pounds) is sold or given to hobbiests for recreational purposes (e.g., melting down to make fishing sinkers). > > ``` ---
**Author:** ![Pushkin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ee59a6/32.png) [@Pushkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Pushkin)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 2:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-are-are-used-batteries-everywhere-my-question-is-why/462801/36 "2008-09-10T14:07:11Z")
> [@Birdmonster](#): > > I was under the impression they had phenomenal sex lives, yes. Those inside the Duracell bunny don’t have a choice in the matter. ---
**Author:** ![Birdmonster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/71e660/32.png) [@Birdmonster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Birdmonster)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-are-are-used-batteries-everywhere-my-question-is-why/462801/37 "2008-09-10T16:41:23Z")
> [@Mangetout](#): > > I will tentatively suggest that _part_ of the reason the OP keeps seeing discarded batteries is some kind of confirmation bias thing - once you’ve really noticed them, you can’t help noticing them. I did exactly the same thing with [lost gloves](http://www.atomicshrimp.com/st/content/lost_gloves/). > > Of course that’s not the whole story - the things have to be there for you to see them, but the point is, there are a range of other common objects you might find discarded with the same or greater frequency as batteries - I think you’re seeing them everywhere _partly_ because you’re looking for them. You’re definitely right here—it’s not like I’m wading through batteries when I walk to the bus. But, like wheel weights, cigarette butts, crumpled take-out menus, and newspaper scraps, batteries are consistent pieces of litter in the City. The other items made sense to me; batteries, for some reason, didn’t, if only because I’ve _seen_ people discard all the others. ---
**Author:** ![The\_Controvert](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/dec6dc/32.png) [@The\_Controvert](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Controvert)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 5:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-are-are-used-batteries-everywhere-my-question-is-why/462801/38 "2008-09-10T17:12:36Z")
> [@Birdmonster](#): > > You’re definitely right here—it’s not like I’m wading through batteries when I walk to the bus. But, like wheel weights, cigarette butts, crumpled take-out menus, and newspaper scraps, batteries are consistent pieces of litter in the City. The other items made sense to me; batteries, for some reason, didn’t, if only because I’ve _seen_ people discard all the others. It’s because the responsible party are the magical battery fairies, who are supposed to surreptitiously seed gutters with an assortment of batteries. Usually, this goes unnoticed as most people assume it’s other \*people \*who are discarding the batteries. But some are much too clever to fall for that ploy. ---
**Author:** ![Mangetout](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mangetout/32/19_2.png) [@Mangetout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mangetout)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 5:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-are-are-used-batteries-everywhere-my-question-is-why/462801/39 "2008-09-10T17:19:45Z")
Night-time roving dildo squads. I can say no more. ---
**Author:** ![gigi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a587f6/32.png) [@gigi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gigi)\ **Post date:** [September 10, 2008, 8:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-are-are-used-batteries-everywhere-my-question-is-why/462801/40 "2008-09-10T20:47:50Z")
> [@Finagle](#): > > Yeah, but nowadays, you’re just as likely to find the portable CD player in the gutter as the batteries it runs on. If not obsolete, they’re certainly on the endangered appliance list. Whoa, I just upgraded to one (but held on to my portable cassette player too). [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-are-are-used-batteries-everywhere-my-question-is-why/462801.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/so-there-are-are-used-batteries-everywhere-my-question-is-why/462801.md?page=3)