From places where children suffer from radiation-caused mutations to cities where the residents can
hardly breathe, these are the world’s most polluted locations!
11. Chernobyl
Let’s start with one of the world’s most infamous polluted places: Chernobyl. The nuclear
accident that happened here took place on April 26, 1986. The incident occurred during
a test at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant’s No. 4 nuclear reactor. After the test was
delayed for ten hours, and the supervisor failed to follow protocol, the conditions
became unstable. Since the reactor already contained design flaws, the combination of
events resulted in a nuclear chain reaction that couldn’t be controlled. An enormous
amount of energy was released all at once, which vaporized the cooling water, causing
a destructive explosion that ruptured the reactor core. The open-air fire that followed
caused a tremendous amount of airborne radioactive contamination. The fallout lasted for nine
days. About thirty-nine thousand square miles were contaminated. Although it’s been decades
since the event, Chernobyl is still one of the most radioactive places in the world.
Plants and animals experience mutations, behavioral abnormalities, and stunted growth.
10. Kabwe, Zambia
This is the Zambian Central Province’s capital and has an estimated population of over two
hundred thousand people. It was known as Broken Hill until 1966 by the Australian and European
prospectors that founded it after zinc and lead deposits were discovered there in 1902.
The term “Kabwe” means “smelting” or “ore.” The mine was the largest in
the nation for years, producing manganese, silver, titanium, cadmium, and other metals.
Nowadays, the mine is closed even though metals are still taken from the area. It is one of
the most polluted places on Earth because of the heavy metals that seep into the local
water supply. A 2014 report suggested that the blood lead levels in children remain elevated
even though mining has halted.
9. Kanpur, India
In 2018, Kanpur was recognized as the city with the worst air pollution on Earth by the
World Health Organization. It has a population of over two million seven hundred thousand,
and the number of people with respiratory illnesses has tripled since about five years
ago, according to the head of the Ganesh Shankar Vidyarthi Memorial Medical College’s department
of medicine. Since the city’s largest hospital is extremely overcrowded with patients who
have respiratory issues, they often have to stay in the ophthalmology ward. Some of the
diseases the citizens of Kanpur deal with are bronchial asthma, pneumonia, and chronic
obstructive pulmonary disease, as well as lung cancer. The majority of the city’s
pollution is caused by soot and dust that gets worse during winter. Plus, biomass burning
and vehicle emissions contribute. Kanpur’s Chief Pollution Officer stated that they planned
to combat the pollution by building new roads and a public transportation system, planting
trees, and cleaning the contaminated Ganges river. Unfortunately, there is no deadline
in place because the city lacks the means to complete these tasks in a timely manner.
8. La Oroya, Peru
This city in central Peru is in the Andean Mountains. Settlements here date back to 10,000
BCE, but the Spanish established a settlement in 1533 and began small mining operations
for precious metals. Throughout the centuries, mining continued to develop, significantly
expanding in 1893 when the railway from La Oroya to Lima was completed. This city is
home to a copper smelter, lead smelter, and zinc refinery, which produce thousands of
tons of these metals annually. Because of these plants, La Oroya is one of the world’s
most polluted places - especially since clean operations weren’t the primary focus of
the original owners. As a result of decades of pollution, the surrounding hills were stripped
of greenery, the river became toxic, and people living there suffered. Residents often have
dangerously high lead levels in their blood, and lead pollutes the drinking water as well.
When the worldwide company Doe Run purchased the area, it estimated a cost of one hundred
seven million dollars to take the required measures for environmental remediation. More
recent estimates suggest more than two hundred forty million dollars.
7. Haina, Dominican Republic
Sometimes called the “Dominican Chernobyl,” this town was recognized as having the world’s
highest levels of lead contamination. All of Haina’s residents had symptoms of lead
poisoning. The pollution was believed to be the result of an old automobile recycling
smelter, which has now been moved to a different place. Unfortunately, the remains of the site
continued to contaminate the area for years. In the late 2000s, the United States-based
environmental group called the Blacksmith Institute performed a cleanup, removing over
six thousand cubic meters of polluted soil, and the area was transformed into a park.
Since then, blood lead levels have substantially decreased.
6. Linfen, China
This Chinese city makes the list because hasty industrialization in the 1990s caused the
demand for energy to increase, thus the price of coal increased dramatically. Private mines
that weren’t strictly regulated expanded quickly to meet demands. The mining, smelting,
cooking, and city development caused severe pollution and environmental damage. Beginning
in 2004, when Linfen was at its worst, there were only fifteen days per year when the air
pollution levels were acceptable. After reports of the city’s pollution were published,
efforts were made to clean it up. Some of the mines were shut down, and coal trucks
weren’t allowed to enter the city, reducing the amount of coal dust. Plus, they switched
their main power source from coal to gas, and eighty-five percent of the population
was using natural gas to heat their homes in place of coal by 2007. The Ministry of
Environmental Protection monitors the environmental conditions of Linfen as well, and it is now
considered a “model city of environmental protection.”
5. Mailuu-Suu, Kyrgyzstan
This mining town is in southern Kyrgyzstan. It takes up about forty-six square miles,
and around twenty-three thousand people live there. Since the Soviet Union fell, the economy
of Mailuu-Suu has suffered, and twenty-three unstable uranium tailings pits were left behind
by the USSR. They sit atop the hillside above the town, which is tectonically unstable.
In 1958, six hundred thousand cubic meters of radioactive tailings were released into
the Mailuu-Suu River following a dam breach. In addition to the breach, significant amounts
of uranium were extracted from the mountains, and mining waste was stored throughout the
town, making environmental issues even worse. A study done on the town’s residents showed
that ninety-eight percent of people living near the waste storage sites suffered from
liver and thyroid diseases. In some areas, the radionuclide levels in the river are two
hundred times as high as the recommended level. Mailuu-Suu continues to endure severe pollution
today.
4. Sukinda, India
Sukinda is a town in Odisha, India, which accounts for ninety-eight percent of the nation’s
chromite reserves. Ninety-seven percent of those reserves are within the Sukinda Valley.
There are about twelve mines operating in Sukinda, and they aren’t regulated for environmental
damage. The pollution that is created by these mines is an extreme health hazard. Sixty percent
of Sukinda’s drinking water is contaminated with hexavalent chromium with levels over
two times what’s recommended by global standards. This heavy metal is used in producing stainless
steel, as well as in leather tanning. Some estimations suggest that over eighty-four
percent of the fatalities in mining areas are caused by diseases related to chromite.
Unfortunately for the people who live there and the environment, no real attempt has been
made to clean the place up.
3. Sumqayit, Azerbaijan
Another polluted place is Sumqayit, located in Azerbaijan near the Caspian Sea. The city
became extremely polluted after industrialization. A thermal power station was built in the late
1930s and early 1940s to provide power to the petroleum industry. After 1944, chemical
and metallurgical plants were constructed and began operating. This created a new job
market, and the Sumqayit population increased. In the 1950s, a Synthetic Rubber factory was
built, and the city’s aluminum and steel processing plants began operating. By 1960,
construction of the Petroleum Chemical Factor commenced, and other factories followed, including
a brick-producing factory, a phosphor production plant, an industrial complex for polymer construction
materials, among various others. This made Sumqayit the center of the USSR’s chemical
industry by the 1980s. But, after Azerbaijan gained its independence from the Soviet Union
in 1991, Sumqayit and other industrial areas began to decline. A former Soviet base started
contaminating the area with heavy metals and chemicals. Sumqayit became known for a cemetery
containing the remains of numerous infants and children who were born with deformities
and mental illnesses caused by the pollution. Luckily, a protection plan established in
the mid-2000s has steadily decreased the contamination levels significantly.
2. Taiyuan, China
This is the capital of China’s Shanxi province and is one of the nation’s main manufacturing
bases. Dating back to 497 BC, it is an ancient city with over two thousand five hundred years
of history since its urbanization. Taiyuan was the center of industrial development for
decades and was connected via railroads to the southwestern and northernmost parts of
Shanxi. The Japanese military occupied Taiyuan from 1945 until their surrender, exploiting
the area’s resources. But, when they did surrender, about fifteen thousand troops decided
to stay in China rather than return to their country and fight for Taiyuan’s ruler. The
Japanese soldiers proved beneficial, and their technical knowledge helped with running the
city’s various industries. Taiyuan has an abundance of natural resources, including
iron, coal, silica, marble, coal, phosphorus, copper, gold, among many, many others, which,
unfortunately, resulted in severe air pollution, especially from the production of coal. The
worst of the pollution occurred from the 1990s to around 2010. Nowadays, the government is
focused on air quality, and they’ve been working hard to improve it. Although correcting
the mistakes from decades upon decades of pollution isn’t easy, they’ve made significant
advancements by creating stricter emission standards, reducing energy consumption, and
being much tougher on companies that produce toxic and hazardous materials.
1. Dzerzhinsk, Russia
Located along the Oka River in Russia, this city is a significant center for chemical
production and used to be the main site for chemical weapons production. The creation
of these weapons began in 1941, with the focal point being lewisite - a compound containing
arsenic trioxide, which has poisonous effects. They also focused on producing mustard gas
- also known as yperite. In addition to these two highly toxic chemicals, the factory in
Dzerzhinsk produced phosgene and prussic acid, another incredibly poisonous and flammable
substance. These operations stopped in 1965, and the chemical waste containing large amounts
of arsenic was buried in dumps. But, the city still has several industrial enterprises that
make around a thousand different types of chemical products. In 2007, the life expectancy
in Dzerzhinsk was forty-seven years for women and forty-two for men, which was attributed
to high levels of persistent organic pollutants, which are resistant to environmental deterioration.
In addition to lewisite and mustard gas, the worst pollutants in Dzerzhinsk are sarin,
hydrogen cyanide, lead, and phosgene. The sites that contribute to contamination include
toxic waste burial grounds, the landfill, and the “white sea,” which is made up
of dumped chemical wastes.
Would you dare step foot in one of these toxic places? Let us know in the comment section
below! And, as always, thank you for watching!