10 MOST TOXIC PLACES IN THE WORLD

AGBOGBLOSHIE, GHANA
The second largest e-waste processing area
in West Africa. E-waste, or electronic waste,
is a broad term referring to a range of
electronics, including refrigerators,
microwaves, and televisions. Because of the
heterogeneous composition of these
materials, recycling them safely is complex
and can require a high level of skill.

CHERNOBYL, UKRAINE
On 26 April 1986 the Chernobyl nuclear
power plant in northern Ukraine became the
site of the worst ever nuclear accident. A
massive steam explosion destroyed the
reactor hall of unit 4 and radioactive material
was released, affecting large parts
of Ukraine, Belarus and Russia, but also
reaching western Europe. The incident
caused huge damage in the immediate
vicinity and had a severe impact beyond. The
emergency services’ response took place in
extremely perilous conditions under
extraordinary time pressure. While early
interventions led to a stabilisation of the
situation, a long-term solution had yet to be
developed and implemented in subsequent
years.
CITARUM RIVER, INDONESIA
Indonesia’s most strategic river, the Citarum
is the source of water for the Jatiluhur
Reservoir, which is Indonesia’s largest
reservoir at 3 billion cubic meters of storage
capacity. The reservoir not only supplies
clean water for Bandung but also provides 80
percent of the water supply for the capital. It
also irrigates 400,000 hectares of rice fields
and is a source of energy for three
hydroelectric power stations serving three
cities.

DZERSHINKS, RUSSIA
The city of Dzerzhinsk, on the river Volga in
Russia, is located in the center of a huge
industrial complex. Six or seven chemical
factories worked day in, day out for over 50
years. From the beginning of World War II,
they produced chemical weapons, dioxines
and rocket fuel, three groups of the most
hazardous chemical substances.

HAZARIBAGH, BANGLEDESH
 Hazaribagh runs along the bank of the
Buriganga River as it flows through Dhaka,
the capital of Bangladesh. Its name means
"a thousand gardens" in Urdu, but you won't
see much green. Instead, the streets are
lined with mounds and mounds of leather.

Hazaribagh is home to the country's $1

billion tanning industry, a place where
thousands work in the factories and
chemicals makes the river slick and shiny.
Everything revolves around the tanneries.
"The village itself is kind of a giant factory,"

KABWE, ZAMBIA
Kabwe is the world’s most toxic town,
according to pollution experts, where mass
lead poisoning has almost certainly damaged
the brains and other organs of generations of
children – and where children continue to be
poisoned every day.

Almost a century of lead mining and smelting

has left a truly toxic legacy in the once-
thriving town of 220,000 people, 100km north
of the capital Lusaka and near central Africa’s
Copperbelt. But the real impact on Kabwe’s
people is yet to be fully revealed and, while
the first steps towards a clean-up have
begun, new dangers are emerging as
desperately poor people scavenge in the vast
slag heap known as Black Mountain.

KALIMANTAN, INDONESIA
Central and South Kalimantan have been
poisoned by years of small-scale gold mining.
The miners use mercury in their rudimentary
smelting process, releasing as much as 1,000
tons of the toxic chemicals into the air each
year. Worse, many miners smelt inside their
homes, where the mercury vapor is trapped.
The metal can also be released into area
waterways, where it can accumulate in fish
and water. A 2008 study found concentrations
of mercury in the Kahayan River in central
Kalimantan more than twice Indonesia’s
recommended standard. In recent years,
however, the Indonesian government has
taken steps to limit man-made mercury
emissions, working with miners to make their
smelting process safer.

MATANZA RIACHUELO, ARGENTINA

 An estimated 15,000 industries actively
release effluent into the Matanza-Riachuelo
river basin, which runs through the
Argentinian capital of Buenos Aires. A 2008
study found that soil on the banks of the river
contained levels of zinc, lead, copper, nickel
and chromium that were all above
recommended values. About 60% of the
20,000 people who reside near the river basin
live in territory that has been deemed
unsuitable for human habitation, leading to
higher levels of diarrheal diseases,
respiratory illnesses and cancer. It doesn’t
help that residents have few sources of
drinking water, leaving them dependent on
the polluted river. The problem is improving,
however, thanks in part to a billion-dollar
World Bank-funded effort.
NIGER RIVER DELTA, NIGERIA
The Delta is home to much of Nigeria’s oil
industry—about 2 million barrels of oil are
extracted from the area each day—and it has
become the site of major pollution from
hydrocarbons. Between 1976 and 2001 there
were nearly 7,000 incidents involving oil spills
in which most of the oil was never recovered,
and an average of 240,000 barrels a year are
spilled into the Niger delta, often because of
mechanical failure or oil pirates. The spills
contaminate the water, air and land with
carcinogens like polycyclic aromatic
hydrocarbons. A 2013 article estimates that
widespread pollution from the spills could
have an impact on crops and lead to a 24%
increase in childhood malnutrition. Crude oil
contamination can also cause infertility and
cancer.
NORILSK, RUSSIA
An industrial city in northern Russia founded
in 1935, Norilsk contained the world’s largest
heavy metals smelting complex as of the
early 2000s. Nearly 500 tons each of carbon
and nickel oxides, along with 2 million tons of
sulfur dioxide are released annually into the
air. That’s one reason why life expectancy for
factory workers in Norilsk is 10 years below
the Russian average, which is hardly robust
anyway at just 69 years, compared to nearly
79 years in the U.S. It’s estimated that over
130,000 local residents are exposed to
particulates and metal pollution each day,
leading to increased levels of respiratory
disease and cancer.

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