Toxicity of lithium salts - how bad are they?

摘要

Greases are widely used in many applications. The most common greases are produced by reacting lithium hydroxide with a fatty acid in a lubricating base oil in situ. The thus formed lithium-based soaps act as a thickener and usually make up about 6-12% of the final grease. The REACH regulation, which came into force June 2007, applies to all substances manufactured in or imported into the European Union in quantities over 1 tonne/year. The regulation aims to evaluate and control human health risks in the EL) for all substances, including greases and it requires producers and importers to evaluate the risk to human health for every substance classified for toxicological hazards. Therefore, it is of paramount importance to assess the toxicity of lithium-based grease thickeners.