This Year’s Rules on the Shipment of Lithium Batteries. Tighter rules begin for shipping batteries, even in devices.

This Year’s Rules on the Shipment of Lithium Batteries.  Tighter rules begin for shipping batteries, even in devices.

 February 2, 2015

With new OSHA regulation already days in effect, new regulation concerning the shipment of lithium batteries is also in store for early 2015. Starting February 6^th, 2015, the Department of Transportation’s (DOT) Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration (PHMSA) and the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) are revising the rules on shipments of lithium batteries to reduce the overall number of current exceptions for businesses and increase the level of requirements on shippers.

They’re Everywhere: the Uses and Unseen Dangers of Li-ion Batteries

Lithium-ion or “li-ion” batteries can be found in smartphones, laptops, e-cigarettes, e-bikes, small electric vehicles like golf carts, and also have military and aerospace applications. They are rechargeable, and most under the right conditions can be of good working use for years. They may even prove a viable replacement for the lead-acid batteries found in hybrid cars, since they have four times the density (which means lithium-ion batteries can hold a longer charge) than lead-acid batteries.

But they are not without their own dangers, as they can pose both a chemical and electrical hazard. Internal short circuits in these types of batteries can cause what is called thermal runway, which is a reaction wherein the temperature inside the battery rapidly increases, which sometimes can lead to fires and even explosions. Because of these potential hazards, lithium batteries are characterized as dangerous goods by the UN Model regulation for the Transport of Dangerous Goods.

A Powder Keg History

In 2006, Apple recalled 1.8 million of the Sony-made battery packs for two of its popular notebooks because of mass reports of overheating, and in some cases, burn injuries. In that same year, Dell also recalled 4.1 million of its Latitude, Precision, and XPS laptops for the same reason (the batteries were also manufactured by Sony).

Lithium batteries, and lithium metal batteries in particular, when packed together in bulk shipments can even cause damage to the hull of a passenger aircraft if they start to thermally react. This is exactly what happened on September 3^rd, 2010, when a UPS cargo plan carrying 81,000 li-ion batteries caught fire and crashed after taking off from Dubai.

But these incidents didn’t stop demand from skyrocketing, and in 2013, lithium-ion battery market was worth $11.7 billion (up from around $10 billion in 2000). In mid-2014, research by the FAA showed that li-ion batteries were even more unstable and prone to disastrous fires and explosions than previously thought.

What the 2015 Regulations Mean

The International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) prohibition on lithium metal batteries transported as cargo on passenger airlines has already gone into effect a week ago on January 1^st, 2015. The ICAO ruling also imposes more stringent regulations on the shipments of lithium-ion batteries when packaged alone and not inside devices or equipment. This ruling will affect international shipping, as shipping li-ion batteries by passenger plane is already banned in the U.S.

Not only do the PHMSA, FAA, and ICAO regulations impose more rules on bulk air shipments of these batteries, but those shipping consumer electronics, medical devices, and power tools will also face tighter scrutiny.

For the PHMSA and FAA regulation coming on February 6^th, 2015, this means that more detailed and accurate marking, labeling, and documentation will be necessary for all shippers of lithium batteries. Businesses must also declare the status of their lithium battery shipments. The requisite amount of battery packaging will be changed as well, to hopefully lead to greater safety across the board. These stipulations, which were before optional to companies, must be met, or else face businesses could face delays of shipments, returns, or in some cases, fines.

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Tighter rules begin for shipping batteries, even in devices

February 2, 2015 at 8:00 AM

Some of the products of EnerSys in Reading, a global lithium-battery manufacturer that already complies with international shipping rules.

A new nationwide ruling on how lithium batteries will be regulated goes into effect Feb. 6.

If the ruling isn’t followed, it could halt shipments for millions of products throughout the nation.

Battery and medical device manufacturers, airlines and retailers are only a few of the industries affected by the new U.S. regulations, issued by the Department of Transportation’s Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration.

Whether a company handles a package with a laptop, a cell phone or a battery-powered toy, if these shipments are not packaged appropriately, carriers could reject the shipments, causing delays for businesses and consumers. In particular, companies that make power tools and manufacturers of medical devices implanted in people – products that need immediate transport – could face the biggest hurdle.

While the rule does not present significant changes, it extends beyond air transport, however, and introduces stringent marking, documentation and packaging requirements to highway, rail and vessel transport, said Dale Rothenberger, regional sales manager for Zee Medical Service Co., a first-aid supply business in Reading.

“We as a business are not impacted all that much,” Rothenberger said. “It creates a universal standard, it tightens the requirements on the shipping of these batteries and the third thing that is does is it talks about how it will be stored.”

The biggest single change in the final rule on lithium batteries is the elimination of the exception for packages with no more than 12 lithium batteries or 24 lithium cells, said Bob Richard, vice president of regulatory affairs at Labelmaster, a Chicago-based company that develops products to help industries comply with regulations governing the safe handling and transport of hazardous materials.

Until now, if a shipment contained no more than 12 batteries or 24 cells, no hazard label or documentation was needed. The exceptions were packages containing lithium metal batteries, which needed a “prohibited on passenger aircraft” label, and packages of medium cells and batteries, which required the “prohibited on aircraft and vessel” label.

The new regulations no longer include this 12 battery/24 cell relief, Richard said.

However, most large U.S. manufacturers appear to know about and are ready to follow the new rules.

“The good news is that the rule harmonizes the U.S. rules with international regulations,” said George Kerchner, executive director of PRBA-the Rechargeable Battery Association, a nonprofit trade association based in Washington, D.C. “The U.S. was out of sync with the rest of the world, which made it difficult from a compliance side.”

Generally speaking, the automotive, battery and electronics industries were expecting these changes, Kerchner said.

Most large U.S. manufacturers already are in compliance with the international rules, so the majority of companies will not be negatively impacted, Kerchner said.

These include companies such as EnerSys, which has global headquarters in Reading. As a manufacture of stored energy solutions for industrial applications, the company is a member of PRBA.

There will be some companies caught off guard when one considers the millions of packages that make it through the supply chain every day, but UPS, DHL, FedEx and other carriers have distributed a lot of information on the final ruling and how packages should be labeled, Kerchner said.

Some airlines are saying that they are not accepting lithium batteries on cargo planes, a move that would affect many companies, Richard said.

With medical device manufacturers, 99 percent of the products are sent by air, he said.

“Sometimes you need to get it there the next day or people are going to die,” Richard said. “While we are concerned with passenger safety, we also have to be concerned about the quality of health care.”

Now with a single-battery or cell shipment, these labels are required and are going to be regulated as dangerous goods, Richard said.

While lithium battery related fires aboard aircraft and other transportation vessels are rare, they can and do happen and present huge consequences, he added.

“There are hundreds of millions of shipments of lithium batteries every day,” Richard said. “Low probability, high consequence. These regulations set a higher standard for transportation that involved better hazard communication.”

A lot of batteries are manufactured overseas, but not all nations are following the rules, according to Richard. International rules just need to be better enforced, he said, noting that in nations such as China, there is no enforcement on safely shipping batteries.

“It think the businesses in the U.S. understand the rules and are doing their best to follow them,” Richard said. “A company that has to get its product to the market can’t have something held up at the airport for five days while it sorts out the shipping problems.”