TOXIC TRANSITION
A new investigation by the Environmental Investigation Agency US (EIA) and PremiCongo into cobalt mining in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) exposes the toxic underbelly of the world’s energy transition.
The Investigation
The last few years have seen dramatic growth in the production and sale of electric vehicles (EVs), as well as in the lithium-ion batteries needed to power these vehicles. As a consequence, demand is surging for critical minerals like cobalt, which these batteries rely on.
The investigation ties the rapid growth of the world’s largest cobalt producer and the booming production of EVs by some of the world’s largest car manufacturers - such as Volkswagen, Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Stellantis - to what appears to be air pollution spanning multiple years, impacting dozens of families and workers.
In 2023 and 2024, communities and local civil society groups sounded the alarm about severe health issues, including severe nosebleeds, coughing up blood, and maternal issues, including stillbirth, that they attributed to the operations of CMOC’s new processing plant.
In its public statements, CMOC, via its subsidiary Tenke Fungurume Mining (TFM), denied the allegations of environmental pollution, its adverse impact on the population, and any connection to its activities.
EIA’s conclusions differ from TFM’s public statement.
According to EIA’s findings, the expansion of CMOC’s processing capacity at the Tenke Fungurume mine – and in particular the 30k plant – is at the heart of the public health crisis that has allegedly harmed nearby communities and the workers who labor in the facility.
More than 1,200 health records obtained and analyzed by EIA investigators - as well as independent medical experts - show that since 2023, doctors and nurses near the mine have treated a growing flow of patients for coughing up blood and severe respiratory illnesses like pneumonia and bronchitis.
To understand the possible cause of the health crisis near TFM’s facility, EIA commissioned independent air monitoring of the area from September 2024 to January 2025. The results indicated levels of sulfur dioxide (SO2) – a toxic gas produced during the processing of copper-cobalt ore – well in excess of international standards.
According to the United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), SO2 exposure can affect the respiratory system and lung function, with the inflammation of the respiratory tract causing coughing, mucus secretion, aggravation of asthma and chronic bronchitis.
There is also strong evidence to suggest that SO2 is associated with an increased rate of infant deaths.
The air monitoring charts below show elevated SO2 levels at five separate sites near the 30k facility.
EIA investigators also spoke to multiple TFM workers who described the dire reality of SO2 pollution at TFM. One former TFM worker explained that periodic off-gassing of SO2 at TFM was “not a secret,” and that management regularly off-gassed SO2 when levels of the gas grew too high.
In response to EIA’s findings, TFM explained that company monitoring data collected during late 2024 and early 2025 indicate that ambient SO2 concentrations remained within applicable regulatory limits. TFM’s full response is available on the EIA web page for this report.
As a consequence of the public outrage against TFM’s alleged responsibility in the Manomapia community health crisis, TFM supported the creation of a buffer zone around the 30k plant. It also relocated the families living in the area, while publicly disputing the health crisis claims.
TFM has failed to provide displaced residents with any alternative land or accommodation, according to EIA interviews with relocated community members. Instead, residents told investigators they were given a small cash compensation and expected to find alternative housing themselves. Sources who spoke with EIA said that finding alternative land to live on in the area was almost impossible.
One man told EIA,
“If we have to die from acids, then so be it, because we have nowhere to go.”
EIA’s supply chain and shipment analysis indicate that cobalt hydroxide produced at TFM is being used by some of the world’s largest automakers, including BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Stellantis, and Volkswagen. None of the automakers named in EIA’s report denied indirectly sourcing cobalt from TFM for their EVs production. The full responses from these automakers are available on the EIA web page for this report.
Solutions are at hand:
The DRC government has an opportunity to establish a world-leading, government-mandated and civil society-led independent monitoring program for the mining sector to be piloted in Lualaba province.
EIA US will be meeting with prominent EV automakers soon to push them to clean up their supply chains.
Clean cars should not poison communities.
If you agree, please sign our petition to show your support. We'll let these automakers know that their consumers care too. You can read the full report here.
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