Sanwizard
Solar Wizard
- Joined
- Feb 2, 2021
- Messages
- 2,715
IV. Lithium ion and Lithium Metal Cells and Batteries Lithium ion and lithium metal cells and batteries are listed as Class 9 Miscellaneous hazardous materials in the U.S. and international hazardous materials (dangerous goods) regulations and are subject to specific packaging, marking, labeling, and shipping paper requirements. Cells and batteries also must meet certain testing requirements contained in the United Nations Manual of Tests and Criteria. For a copy of the current UN lithium battery tests, click here. The regulations that govern the transport of lithium ion and lithium metal cells and batteries are very complex. Therefore, prior to offering cells and batteries for transport, these regulations should be carefully reviewed. Companies that ship lithium batteries and fail to comply with the U.S. hazardous materials regulations can be assessed substantial civil penalties by the U.S. DOT. Shippers of lithium batteries should consult with hazardous materials regulatory experts if they do not fully understand the requirements of these regulations. Companies that ship lithium batteries or products containing them also should immediately determine whether employees preparing packages for transport are subject to the hazardous materials/dangerous goods training requirements.I'm not any kind of an expert, but this really seems hazardous to me. It's clear the cell terminals were poking through the outside of the box; if they had touched some metal they could have shorted out and caused a fire. On a second look, it appears that only one side of the terminals was poking through...
I briefly looked into trying to order a large quantity of cells via a contact in China and then offering them for resale domestically, but the shipping and hazmat rules are quite extreme. In effect, the way that 100% of cells we are all using appear to be shipped is by simply ignoring all the rules entirely. A buddy of mine who worked in a UPS hub told me that package handlers/sorters on the line occasionally had to handle boxes with mysterious liquids coming out of them, often times perfume or similar, sometimes nasty smelling chemicals. In theory you could not be compelled to handle leaky hazmats without proper safety practices, but in reality people who didn't keep up the crazy hectic work pace got fired.
While I understand that complying with the rules would make shipping these cells completely unviable, if sellers keep doing these poor shipping practices, it's a matter of time until they start a fire or something.