Shocking: 2000 times the limit value of a carcinogen measured in South Korean factory in Hungary

Workers at South Korean SungEel’s battery processing plants in Hungary have been repeatedly exposed to carcinogenic substances. It has now emerged that airborne concentrations of carcinogenic heavy metals at the battery processing plant in Szigetszentmiklós were always several times the permitted limit in tests carried out between 2019 and 2022.

Carcinogens in huge concentration

Átlátszó investigated the contamination of the South Korean SungEel Hitech Hungary Ltd. After a long search, the portal obtained documents that show an extremely serious situation. The investigative news portal first obtained penalty decisions on the battery-processing company.

Then, because some of the data had been hidden, the paper turned to the National Data Protection and Information Authority. Eventually, the government agency sent the unredacted documents, which showed that airborne concentrations of carcinogenic heavy metals were many times the limit in tests carried out between 2019-2022.

At the plant in Szigetszentmiklós, 18 workers were exposed to increased levels of nickel and cobalt, which the company did not report or investigate. One of the machines had airborne concentrations of nickel 2000 times above the limit value, according to the article, but concentrations of cobalt and manganese were also above the limit.

Death at the plant

Exposure to nickel can cause allergies, cardiovascular disease, kidney disease, pulmonary fibrosis, lung and nasal tumours, and some research has linked it to certain neurodegenerative diseases.

A machine exploded at the SungEel Ltd. factory on 14 March. A worker repairing a grinder died of his injuries the same day, while another worker was fighting for weeks and eventually died on 3 April, Telex writes. A third worker suffered minor injuries. At the end of June, the labour inspectorate fined the company HUF 10 million (EUR 25,830). The emergency services also found serious shortcomings.

The company also failed to carry out the mandatory health check-ups of its workers, which also failed to comply with occupational health and safety regulations.

The Bátonyterenye processing plant was previously reported to have been inspected by the inspectors themselves, who detected a strong smell of solvent that caused skin rashes and sore throats. There were also machine explosion accidents and fires. As the plant has been fined on several occasions for improper waste management, it was closed down in the summer of 2023.

Átlátszó believes that the payment of the fines should not have caused any problems for the company: in 2022, SungEel Ltd. had a turnover of HUF 18.5 billion (EUR 47.8 million) and a profit of HUF 1.6 billion (EUR 4.1 million). However, the temporary suspension of the Bátonyterenye plant could mean a big loss of revenue for SungEel.

Improper (and highly dangerous) cleaning of the grinder at SungEel’s plant in Bátonyterenye:

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