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
Asia |
| Eastern
Europe & Central Asia |
South
East Asia |
AFRICA
Guinea
Conakry: Leaded fuel exhaust, untreated sewage
Zambia
Kabwe: Lead mine
CHINA
Dianchi, Yunnan: Untreated sewage, industrial waste, agricultural run-off and pesticides
EASTERN
EUROPE & CENTRAL ASIA
Transboundry
Aral
Sea: Pesticides, salinity, environmental degradation
Albania
Porto
Romano: Pesticides and chemical manufacturing
Kyrgyzstan
Mailuu-Suu:
Uranium mining
Russia
Berezniki: Chemical Weapons Pollution
Dzerzhinsk:
Chemical manufacturing plants
Karabash: Heavy Metal Pollutants
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
Rudnaya
Pristan/Dalnegorsk: Lead poisoning
Sakhalin Island: Petroleum Pollution
Volkhov: Aluminum smelter waste
Ukraine
Chernobyl:
Nuclear disaster
LATIN AMERICA
Peru
La Oroya: Lead Poisoning
Madrigal: Lead, Silver, Gold Mining
SOUTH
ASIA
Bangladesh
Chittagong:
Ship breaking
India
Aruputo Village, Kolkata, India: Leather Trimmings
Bidar,
Karnataka: Pharmaceutical industry waste
Bhopal, Madhya Pradesh: Methyl Isocyanate spill
Calcutta,
West Bengal: Lead smelting
Dandeli, Karnataka: Paper pulp and other organic pollutants
Duarala
Village, Meerut, Uttar Pradesh: Chromium, nickel, zinc
Edulabad, Hyderabad: Sewage pollution
Eloor,
Kerala: Chemical industry effluents
Kanpur,
Utter Pradesh: Tannery waste
Kodaikanal, Tamil Nadu: Mercury
Nandesari, Gujarat: Chemical industry estate effluents
Ranipet,
Tamil Nadu: Tannery waste
Shillong,
Meghalaya: Untreated sewage
Singrauli,
Madhya Pradesh: Coal mining, coal-powered thermal power plants
Sukinda
Valley, Orissa: Chromium mining
Tangra, Kolkata: Old tanneries
Tiljala/Picnic Gardens, Kolkata, India: Lead Smelters
Vapi, Gujarat: Industrial estate effluents
Vishwas
Nagar, New Delhi: PVC manufacturing
SOUTH
EAST ASIA
Cambodia
Beong Trabek, Phnom Penh: Sewage canal
Philippines
Marilao, Bulacan:
Lead recycling plant
Meycauayan, Luzon:
Tannery waste
Thailand
Map
Ta Phut, Rayong: Petrochemical plants
