health concerns (charging battery gas)

[Ken_ver_1_5]

been doing some research on health issues of the use
of lead acid battery's so called sealed and un-sealed
battery's in the home.

things I know so far:

the gas explodes
the lead is toxic
understand ventilation needs.

so I need more info on the health issues from inhaling
the gas at low levels in the home.

the reason is some of us use ups in our homes
most of the time these are sealed gel cells.
these batteries have presser valves that may open
during discharge ( off gassing ) or in the case of
over charging.

I can't seem to find anything except the gas can explode
as a health issue.

I have had a recent ups failure the battery showed signs
of off gassing.

now I know there wasn't much gas but as we seal our homes
more and more I think this poses a problem with pollution in
the home.

your thoughts and info is welcome...

[Dr.Dan]

Here's the MSDS .pdf for Lead Acid batteries:
http://www.exideworld.com/material_safety_data/Battery_Absorbed_Electrolyte.pdf

If you want to look up other types of batteries, go to this page:
http://www.exideworld.com/material_safety_data.html

[Ken_ver_1_5]

thanks Dan links I haven't looked at yet.
still I wonder about long term exposure?
I guess studies haven't been done on
that. seems strange they haven't....

[Dr.Dan]

Long term? Well I really don't think there's much of a risk with one bettery in your home. People work in the battery warehouses with thousands of batteries charging and offgasing all day long... and I've never seen any special ventilation systems or anything.

You might want to call the public heath office and inquire about long term affects... but being that it's rare to offgas, you're not continally exposed anyway.

[Ken_ver_1_5]

your probably right.
there is a rule with charging battery's of so much cfm to outside air.
but that is to avoid hydrogen build up. it is still unknown from what
I can see on the long term health effects.
something to think about.....