Chemical contamination found in green leak at CATL battery factory in Debrecen, Hungary

On 5 May a green‑coloured liquid burst from a pressure‑test pipe at the CATL lithium‑ion battery plant in Debrecen, Hungary. The company said the dye‑water used for the test was harmless and that its own measurements showed no pollutants.

An independent laboratory commissioned by the local environmental group Mikepércsi Anyák a Környezetért found nickel, manganese, lithium, cobalt and the reproductive‑toxic solvent N‑methyl‑2‑pyrrolidone (NMP) in the sample, with nickel concentrations up to 160 µg/L – far above drinking‑water limits. The group warned that the mixture constitutes a “toxic industrial cocktail” and called for urgent public disclosure of the results.

Hungarian regional authorities have been asked to provide their own analysis, which so far has not detected NMP. Lawmakers have said that if contamination is confirmed, the plant could face the strongest penalty, including closure, and a new regulatory body for such facilities is being prepared.