The following locations in the developing world have been identified as places where human health and the environment are significantly impacted by pollution. Some of these sites have already been integrated into Blacksmith Institute's active portfolio of Polluted Places projects. Others on this list are already the focus of inspiring local and international remediation commitments, especially in the areas of sewage and solid waste. Some sites are on the list simply to remind us that the problems they pose to the health of communities still exist, raising the hope that one day solutions can be found for all of the world's polluted places.

To add a site to our list, please go to our nominations page. To see a list of sites organized by pollutant-type, click here.

refers to sites that are part of Blacksmith Institute's project portfolio.

Africa	Latin America
China	South East Asia
Eastern Europe & Central Asia	South Asia

  AFRICA
     Guinea
    Conakry: Leaded fuel exhaust, untreated sewage.

     Zambia
    Kabwe: Lead mine  


  CHINA

     China
    Dianchi, Yunnan: Untreated sewage, industrial waste, agricultural run-off and pesticides.  
    Shenyang, Liaonin: metal smelter
    Tianying Town, Jieshou: lead smelter


  EASTERN EUROPE, NORTHERN EURASIA & CENTRAL ASIA

     Albania
    Porto Romano: Pesticides and chemical manufacturing

     Kyrgyzstan
    Mailuu-Suu: Uranium mining

     Russia
    Berezniki: Chemical weapons legacy
    Dzerzhinsk: Chemical manufacturing plants  
    Karabash: Heavy metal pollution
    Krasnoufimsk: Radioactive waste
    Magadan: Cesium dumping  
    Magnitogorsk: Sulfur dioxide & metal-rich particulates
    Muslyumova: Radioactive contamination 
    Nizhny Novgorod: Obsolete pesticides 
    Partizansk: Fly-ash and carbon dioxide
    Popov Island: Mercury contamination
    Rudnay Pristan/Dalnegorsk: Lead Poisoning  
    Sakhalin Island: Petroleum Pollution  
    Volkhov: Aluminum smelter waste

     Transboundary
    Aral Sea: Pesticides, salinity, environmental degradation  

     Ukraine
    Chernobyl: Nuclear disaster


  LATIN AMERICA & CARIBBEAN

     Dominican Republic
    Haina: Lead poisoning from battery recycling

     Peru
    La Oroya: Lead Poisoning  
    Madrigal: Lead, Silver, Gold Mining


  SOUTHEAST ASIA

     Cambodia
    Beong Trabek, Phnom Penh: Sewage canal

     Philippines
    Marilao, Bulacan: Lead recycling
    Meycauayan, Luzon: Tannery waste  

     Thailand
    Map Ta Phut, Rayong: Petrochemical plants  


  SOUTH ASIA

     Bangladesh
    Chittagong: Ship breaking

     India
    Ankleshwar, Gujarat: Chemical industry effluents
    Aruputo Village, Kolkata: Leather trimmings
    Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh: Methyl Isocyanate spill
    Bichhri, Rajasthan: Dye industry legacy site
    Bidar, Karnataka: Pharmaceutical industry waste
    Calcutta: Lead smelting
    Dandeli, Karnataka: Paper pulp and other organic pollutants
    Duarala Village, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh: Chromium, nickel, zinc  
    Durgapur, West Bengal: Steel industry effluents
    Edulabad, Andhra Pradesh: Solid Waste & Sewage
    Eloor, Kerala: Chemical industry effluents
    Gujarat: Pirana/Narol Industrial Area
    Howrah, West Bengal: Iron foundry waste
    Kanpur, Uttar Pradesh: Tannery waste  
    Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu: Mercury contamination
    Nandesari, Gujarat: Chemical industry estate effluents
    Panipat, Haryana: Industrial effluents, mainly from dye sector
    Ranipet, Tamil Nadu: Tannery waste
    Shillong, Meghalaya: Untreated sewage  
    Singrauli, Madhya Pradesh: Coal mining, coal-powered thermal power plants
    Sukinda Valley, Orissa: Chromium mining
    Tamil Nadu: Palar River Basin
    Tangra, Kolkata: Old tanneries
    Tiljala/Picnic Gardens, Kolkata: Lead smelters
    Vadodara: Effluent Canal Pipeline
    Vadodara: Hema Chemicals
    Vadodara: Mini River Pollution
    Vapi, Gujarat: Industrial estate effluents
    Vishwas Nagar, New Delhi: PVC manufacturing