The newspaper New technique reports that there is concern among researchers after three Northvolt employees died after their shifts in just six months.
Ingvar Bergdahl, docent in occupational and environmental toxicology at Umeå University, tells SVT that research is not keeping up with developments in the new industries.
Employees died after working shifts at Northvolt in Skellefteå
Northvolt considers slowing international plans
60 seconds: Northvolt and the deaths
– If it were lead batteries, I would know a lot about the production and what people are exposed to and what the health effects are. But with the rapid development, we don’t have that knowledge yet and that worries us.
When companies develop new technology and the employees risk being exposed to new substances, it is important, according to Bergdahl, that the companies work systematically with work environment issues.
– Building it up is quite difficult when it has to go fast. But that is what is required in the work environment to succeed.
Northvolt: “We have knowledge and our own experts”
Northvolt writes in an email to SVT that “it is difficult to respond to general claims and speculations from an outsider who lacks insight into our operations. But we want to be clear that we have good knowledge of all the materials we use in our processes. We have our own and external experts on chemicals who carry out risk analyzes and risk assessments.
It must be remembered that even though battery manufacturing is a new industry in Sweden, it has existed for a long time in other countries, which means that there is extensive knowledge of how these materials should be handled correctly and safely.”