The World’s 10 Most Polluted Places

A list of the 10 most polluted places in the world has been published by the Blacksmith Institute, a US based independent environmental group. It is the second annual list of the most polluted places, and this year includes towns and cities in India, China, Russia, Peru, Zambia, Azerbaijan and Ukraine.

The report indicates that as many as 12 million people may be affected by the severe pollution in these areas, with chronic illness and premature deaths being listed as possible consequences.

The main causes of the pollution are said to be chemical, metal and mining industrials in the areas. For example, according to studies carried out by the Director General of Environmental Health in Peru, 99% of children that live near to the local heavy metal mining and processing industries in La Oroya have blood lead levels that exceed acceptable limits.

The world’s ten most polluted places are as follows:

• Sumgayit, Azerbaijan; Potentially 275,000 affected
• Linfen, China; Potentially 3m affected
• Tianying, China; Potentially 140,000 affected
• Sukinda, India; Potentially 2.6m affected
• Vapi, India; Potentially 71,000 affected
• La Oroya, Peru; Potentially 35,000 affected
• Dzerzhinsk, Russia; Potentially 300,000 affected
• Norilsk, Russia; Potentially 134,000 affected
• Chernobyl, Ukraine; Potentially 5.5m affected
• Kabwe, Zambia; Potentially 255,000 affected

Much of this pollution could easily be reduced by the implementation of good environmental controls which are commonplace throughout the rest of the world.