Poisonous dust falls from the sky over the town of Ogijo, near Lagos, Nigeria. It coats kitchen floors, vegetable gardens, churchyards and schoolyards. The toxic soot billows from crude factories that recycle lead for American companies. With every breath, people inhale invisible lead particles and absorb them into their bloodstream. The metal seeps into their brains, wreaking havoc on their nervous systems. It damages livers and kidneys. Toddlers ingest the dust by crawling across floors, playgrounds and backyards, then putting their hands in their mouths. As the United States tightened regulations on lead processing ... finding domestic lead became a challenge. So the auto industry looked overseas to supplement its supply. In doing so, car and battery manufacturers pushed the health consequences of lead recycling onto countries where enforcement is lax, testing is rare and workers are desperate for jobs. Seventy people living near and working in factories around Ogijo volunteered to have their blood tested. Seven out of 10 had harmful levels of lead. Every worker had been poisoned. More than half the children tested in Ogijo had levels that could cause lifelong brain damage. Manufacturers that use Nigerian lead make batteries for major carmakers and retailers such as Amazon, Lowe's and Walmart. All this is avoidable. Lead batteries can indeed be recycled as cleanly as advertised. But that requires millions of dollars in technology.