Ford may be on the receiving end of a tainted product, according to reports that the raw materials used to make the Aluminum body in F-150 Lightning trucks are polluting nearby communities in Brazil. According to a recent investigation by Bloomberg, an aluminum refinery and mine in Brazil may be committing human rights violations by polluting almost everything it touches.

Ford has focused on its environmental impact in recent years with a transition to electric vehicles. In 2022, the company even joined Manufacture 2030, meaning it will start holding all of its 5,000 tier-one suppliers to stricter environmental standards. This sounds good on paper, but these new reports raise serious questions about how responsible the Blue Oval is when it comes to its tier two and tier three suppliers.

The first important thing is that Ford does not own these facilities. Instead, it is decently far down the supply chain on the receiving end that sees the product find its way from Brazil to Canada, then to Pennsylvania, and ultimately, to the panels, body, and intricate parts that make up vehicles like the F-150 Lightning.

The facilities in question are located in the north of the country along the coast and down the Amazon river. Mineracao Rio do Norte mine, known as MRN, is owned by a consortium and is located deep in the Amazon forest. This mine, which opened in 1979, deforests large swaths of land and mines bauxite.

This material is then shipped downriver to Barcarena, where the Hydro Alunorte refinery is located. The refinery is owned by Norsk Hydro ASA of Norway and mixes crushed bauxite with caustic soda and lime and is heated in high-pressure tanks to extract a white powder called alumina.

This alumina is then shipped to other factories in other countries to be turned into aluminum and then eventually pressed into panels for vehicles.

A class action lawsuit on behalf of 11,000 residents of the neighborhoods surrounding the Alunorte refinery claims that its Alumina production is responsible for extreme levels of heavy metals in the environment. In Barcarena, certain levels of aluminum in the environment were found to be 57 times greater than what health experts consider safe, with individual residents showing medical tests that indicated levels much higher.

The lawsuit alleges that these toxic metals and chemicals have caused birth defects, neurological defects, hair loss, cancer, and increased mortality in the community.

Ford uses over 500 pounds of aluminum in its trucks, with that number pushing up to 682 pounds for the Lightning. It's hard to say exactly how much of this aluminum is tainted, but if you follow the supply chain, it raises red flags along the way.

As we move towards a future where most vehicles produced will be electric, it's more important than ever before to consider how our products are produced. Opinion differs on just how good EVs really are for the environment, but most data points to them overall being better for us. Since tailpipe emissions will become a thing of the past, scrutiny needs to be turned toward all the other sources of pollution and unethical production.

A spokesperson for Ford said the company is investigating the issues raised by the report. "Ford is committed to a supply chain that exceeds minimum regulatory compliance requirements and respects human rights, including the right to clean air and clean water."

Will we see any sort of change from this? It's difficult to say, because, in today's multi-connected world, you're not just dealing with one country's laws or jurisdiction. Ford isn't directly culpable, but if it's truly dedicated to bettering business practices that help the world, then it's going to have to take a hard look at who it does business with.