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The impact of human activity on Earth over the past century has been devastating. These days, industrial pollution can reach alarming levels, affecting even developing countries. Let’s delve into the list of the world’s most polluted places and cities.
Considered the worst nuclear disaster ever, the Chernobyl reactor meltdown released radiation levels 100 times higher than Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Even now, 5 to 10 million people in Ukraine, Russia, Moldova, and Belarus remain at risk of contamination. Twenty-seven years later, researchers have found various radioactive residues in the area, including Caesium-137.
Citarum River is one of Jakarta’s main waterways, serving a population of around 10 million. Unfortunately, it’s heavily polluted by both industrial and domestic waste. Experts claim that lead levels in the river are 1000 times higher than EPA standards. Additionally, the river contains high concentrations of toxic metals like aluminum, manganese, and iron.
Agbogbloshie, in Ghana’s Accra region, is West Africa’s second-largest electronic waste processing site. Around 215,000 tons of e-waste, including items like refrigerators and cell phones, are processed annually. This poses an ecological risk due to toxic materials like lead, with soil lead levels 45 times higher than US EPA standards, endangering the health of 250,000 residents.
In Bangladesh, 90% of the country’s 270 registered leather tanneries are located In Hazaribagh, a neighborhood of Dhaka. These factories are employing 12,000 people. Every day, they dump 22,000 cubic liters of toxic waste, including the carcinogenic hexavalent chromium, into the Buriganga River. The lack of regulation in leather processing and the use of contaminated water have deadly consequences for the population, affecting nearly 185,000 residents.
Once the hub of Soviet chemical production, including chemical weapons, Dzerzhinsk still bears the aftermath. About 300,000 tons of toxic waste were dumped around the city from 1930 to 1998. Water samples have shown dioxin levels thousands of times higher than recommended. Life expectancy is shockingly low, at 47 years for women and 42 for men.
The Indonesian province of Kalimantan has long been contaminated due to unregulated gold mining. Miners use mercury in the rudimentary gold extraction process, releasing up to 1000 tons of chemicals into the air annually. Once released, mercury has spread into the waters, contaminating plants and fish as well. The mercury concentration in the area is double the Indonesian standards.
The Niger Delta, covering over 70,000 square kilometers, is one of the world’s most polluted places with oil and hydrocarbons. About 240,000 barrels end up in the Delta each year due to mechanical failures or pirate attacks from the 2 million extracted daily. Leakage from these barrels releases harmful substances into the water and emits polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons into the air, damaging crops.
The Matanza-Riachuelo river basin receives toxic waste from approximately 15,000 industries concentrated in the region. The river waters, which flow near Buenos Aires, contain high levels of zinc, lead, copper, nickel, and chromium. Around 60% of the 20,000 people living near the river have been affected by cancer or respiratory problems.
Established in 1935, Norilsk is an industrial city in the northern region of Russia. Annually, nearly 500 tons of carbon oxide and nickel, along with 2 million tons of sulfur dioxide, are released into the air. Life expectancy for factory workers is 10 years below the Russian average of 69 years. Over 130,000 residents are at risk of contamination.
In Kabwe, blood lead levels hover around 60%, surpassing the threshold considered fatal. This is the outcome of decades of contamination from mining and lead processing, conducted with no regard for regulations over a century. Although the mine is now closed, artisanal mining persists, complicating efforts to address the issue.
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