Muthia village lies on the eastern periphery of Ahmedabad City and borders a major industrial estate operated by the Naroda Gujarat Industrial Development Corporation(GIDC). Approximately 60,000 tons of sludge from effluent treatment plants and other untreated waste have been dumped along the boundary between the industrial estate and the village over the last decade. These hazardous wa... READ MORE

Krasnoufimsk is located in Sverdlovsk Oblast (Yekaterinburg) in the Central Urals. 82,000 tons of radioactive monazite concentrate have been stored here since the sixties. Exposure to monazite is linked to increased risk of cancer and is most dangerous when inhaled.

There is a very high incidence of cancer in the Krasnoufimsk district. As of late 2004 there were 990 cases of cancer ... READ MORE

Haina, also known as Bajos de Haina, has been referred to as the 'Dominican Chernobyl'. A community near an abandoned lead-acid battery recycling smelter, nearly its entire population shows signs of lead poisoning. In 2000, the Dominican Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources identified Haina as a national hotspot of significant concern.

According... READ MORE

This project was initiated in late 2006 in dialogue between Blacksmith Institute and the Yunnan Environmental Protection Bureau. The key problem identified was the contamination of local water supplies, high in the headwaters of major river systems, by small abandoned metal mines and processing facilities. The local pollution problems are severe and, because heavy metals do not degrade in th... READ MORE

In 1998, an international framework was established to improve air quality in Sub-Saharan Africa.  The first regional conference was organized by the World Bank on June 26th, 2001 in Dakar, Senegal, to discuss the issue of leaded gasoline as a major source of emissions in traffic-heavy towns and cities in developing countries.  The harmful health effects of lead exposure in childre... READ MORE

Kabwe, the second largest city in Zambia with a population of 300,000, is located about 130km north of the nation's capital, Lusaka. It is one of six towns situated around the "Copperbelt", once Zambia's thriving industrial base. In 1902, rich deposits of potentially dangerous lead were discovered in the mine and smelter located in the center of the town. Ore veins with lead concentrati... READ MORE

The village of Romanovka is located 50km from the Talakan uranium mine. Uranium concentrates are transported across the River Vitim by ferries and cargo boats.  Some of the mine's abandoned ditches, known to be radioactive, were for many years exposed to open air, and studies showed a correlation between air- and water-borne exposure to this uranium supply and a cancer cluster in the lo... READ MORE

Kanpur is the ninth-largest city in India, and one of its most severely polluted. Its eastern districts feature about 350 industrial leather tanneries, many of which discharge untreated waste into local groundwater sources and the Ganges River. These pollutants include toxic levels of metal contaminants such as chromium, mercury, and arsenic. Chromium is the most worrisome of these: pop... READ MORE

Beginning in 1997, scientists were able to document the alarming fact that throughout the 1950s and ‘60s chemical weapons were dismantled, without proper environmental oversight, 10km northwest of the town of Leonidovka, in the Russian state of Penza Oblast.  The polluted area covers 65,800 acres of forest, where the plantlife, soil, and water all tested positive for arsenic, diox... READ MORE

During its 30 years of operation, the mining and chemical Combine at Zheleznogorsk discharged its cooling water contaminated with radioactive wastes directly into the Yenisei River. Eventually, 300 kilometres along the river were officially declared an environmental disaster zone based on the amount of contamination over that time. The village of Bolshoi Balchug lies immediately downstream f... READ MORE

Cambodia is amongst the poorer countries in the world, ranking 130 or 177 countries in the 2003 Human Development Index, as reported by the UN.  The GNI per capita in 2004 was $320, while life expectancy was 57 years.  Mortality due to waterborne illnesses is high, in part reflecting the fact that many Cambodians have less access to adequate sanitation and clean drinking water comp... READ MORE

A once-secret manufacturing center of the Soviet Union's defense industry located 450 kilometers southeast of Moscow, Dzerzhinsk (population 300,000) has hosted many chemical factories, including production facilities for Sarin and VX nerve gas. Lead additives for gasoline, mustard gas, munitions, and other highly-polluting products can also claim this city as their birthplace. While ma... READ MORE

Manica is a district of Mozambique in the Manica Province with a population of 155,731 people.  Manica District borders with the Republic of Zimbabwe in the west, the District of Gondola in the east, the District of Barué to the north through the Pungué River, and the District of Sussundenga in the south, which is bounded by the Revué and the Zonué River... READ MORE

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There are twenty three tailing dumps and thirteen waste rock dumps scattered throughout Mailuu-Suu, home to a former Soviet-era uranium plant. From 1946-1968 the plant produced and processed more than 10,000 metric tons of uranium ore--products eventually used to create the Soviet Union's first atomic bomb.  What remains now are not atomic bombs, but 1.96 million cubic meters of radioac... READ MORE

Bicchadi is a small town located roughly fifteen kilometers east of Udaipur of the Rajasthan region, India.  This site, which was a small industrial estate (791 acres) manufacturing dyes and... READ MORE

A once-secret manufacturing center of the Soviet Union's defense industry, Dzerzhinsk (population 300,000) has hosted many chemical factories, including production facilities for Sarin and VX nerve gas. Lead additives for gasoline, mustard gas, munitions, and other highly-polluting products can also claim this city as their birthplace. While many of these factories are now closed, the chemic... READ MORE

Heavy metal pollution of the Marilao-Meycauayan-Obando River system (MMORS), located in the province of Bulacan, Philippines, has caused environmental degradation and numerous public health problems.  The contamination of this waterway comes from both formal and informal industries, such as used lead acid battery recycling, gold and precious metals refining, jewelry making, and open dum... READ MORE

The Kafue River Basin in the Chingola District, Zambia has experienced heavy polluting over the past several decades. Konkola Copper Mines (KCM) is the primary source of this pollution, disposing of industrial waste products and various bio-chemical substances directly into the reservoirs.  They are not the only polluters, however, as the region is home to roughly 40% of the nation... READ MORE

Beginning in 1997, scientists were able to document the alarming fact that throughout the 1950s and ‘60s chemical weapons were dismantled, without proper environmental oversight, 10km northwest of the town of Leonidovka, in the Russian state of Penza Oblast.  The polluted area covers 65,800 acres of forest, where the plantlife, soil, and water all tested positive for arsenic... READ MORE

In 1949, the Soviet Union funded the Mayak plant intended for the manufacturing of weapon’s grade plutonium in Chelyabinsk, in the Southern Urals.  All liquid waste products were dumped directly into the Techa river, and eventually high levels of radioactive waste settled along the riverbed. In 1952, 70% of the inhabitants of nearby village Metlino suffered from leukemia, and... READ MORE

This project was initiated in late 2006 in dialogue between Blacksmith Institute and the Yunnan Environmental Protection Bureau. The key problem identified was the contamination of local water supplies, high in the headwaters of major river systems, by small abandoned metal mines and processing facilities. The local pollution problems are severe and, because heavy metals do not degrade in th... READ MORE

kilometers west of Chaibasa, the headquarters of West Singhbhum district of Jharkhand, lie the Roro hills, home to an abandoned chrysotile asbestos mine. The Roro mines were closed down in 1983 after Hyderabad Asbestos Cement Products Ltd. (now Hyderabad Industries Limited) decided that they were no longer profitable.

Nearly 0.7 million tons of asbestos waste mixed with chromite... READ MORE

The Msimbazi river flows across Dar es Salaam City from the higher areas of Kisarawe in the Coastal region and discharges into the Indian Ocean.  Because of its location, the river ahs been an important resource for residents in the Dar es Salaam city in various ways.  Additionally, the river has been abused by different sectors as a dumping site for effluent and other pollutan... READ MORE

Cambodia is undergoing rapid development and subsequent population and industrial growth. Air quality is deteriorating as a result of industrial and handicraft processes as well as fossil fuel combustion.  As of 2004, air quality monitoring activities were inadequate as there was no established technical guideline.  While environmental conditions and human health are being threaten... READ MORE

One of the most infamous symbols of life-threatening pollution is the Chernobyl reactor, which suffered a meltdown in April 1986.  To this day, the settlements closest to the reactor site remain depopulated ghost towns; however, the explosion sent a radioactive cloud over most of Europe, and many regions received a fallout level that, while not quite serious enough to require permanent ... READ MORE

The village of Romanovka is located 50km from the Talakan uranium mine. Uranium concentrates are transported across the River Vitim by ferries and cargo boats.  Some of the mine's abandoned ditches, known to be radioactive, were for many years exposed to open air, and studies showed a correlation between air- and water-borne exposure to this uranium supply and a cancer cluster in the lo... READ MORE