|
Polluted soil, chemical waste, electronic junk:
According to the Green Cross Foundation's Environmental Toxic Report,
200 million people are directly confronted with environmental pollution.
Where is life most harmful?
|
|
Agbogbloshie dump in Ghana
Loads of old satellite dishes and broken televisions are piled up in
West Africa's second biggest electronic junk dump. The Environmental
Toxin Report ranks it as one of the most polluted places on earth. The
burning of wires to recover valuable copper inside a plastic coating
makes the electronic junk is especially dangerous and releases lead into
the surrounding area. |
|
 |
|
Citarum River, Indonesia
The Citarum River's water in Indonesia is about 1,000 times more
polluted than conventional drinking-water and contains huge amounts of
aluminum and iron. About 2,000 factories use the river as a water source
and dump their industrial waste into the water. The river also serves as
a basis of life for millions of people. |
|
|
|
Industrial center Dzerzhinsk, Russia
Dzerzhinsk is one of Russia's most important centers of chemical
industry. Between 1930 and 1998, about 300,000 tons of chemical waste
were not been properly disposed of in the area. Lots of these chemicals
polluted the ground water as wells as the air. In Dzerzhinsk women have
a life expectancy of 47 year while men's is 42 years. |
|
|
|
Chernobyl nuclear power plant, Ukraine
To this day Chernobyl is recognized as the worst nuclear accident in
history. On April 25, 1986, tests in the nuclear power plant lead to a
core meltdown with fatal results: to date no people live within a radius
of 30 kilometers. The soil around the nuclear power plant still is
contaminated and endangers the food production. Many people around
Chernobyl contracted leukemia. |
|
 |
|
Tanneries in Hazaribagh, Bangladesh
Hazaribagh has more tanneries than anywhere else in Bangladesh. The
majority of these factories use old and ineffective methods and end up
tipping about 22,000 liters of toxic waste every day into the Buriganga
River - Dhaka's most important water source. Many people suffer from
skin and airway diseases caused by carcinogenic material.
|
|
 |
|
Lead mines in Kabwe, Zambia
In Kabwe, the second biggest city in Zambia, many children suffer from
increased levels of lead in their blood. For a century, the lead mines
released heavy metals in the form of dust particles that fell on the
ground in and around the city.
|
|
 |
|
Gold mines in Kalimantan, Indonesia
Kalimantan belongs to the Indonesian part of the island Borneo and is
particularly known for its gold mines. To get at the gold, many mines
use mercury releasing more than 1,000 tons of this toxic material into
the environment and ground water every year.
|
|
 |
|
Matanza-Riachuelo river, Argentina
About 5,000 factories dump their sewage into the Matanza-Riachuelo River
in Argentina. Chemical producers can be blamed for more than a third of
the river's pollution, the report said. The water contains increased
amounts of zinc, lead, copper, nickel and other heavy metals. In this
area the populations suffers from intestinal and airways diseases.
|
|
 |
|
Niger Delta, Nigeria
The Niger River delta is a heavy populated region in Nigeria and home to
as much as 8 percent of the country's population. It is strongly
polluted with oil and hydrocarbon poisoning the soil and ground water.
On average, each year 240,000 barrels of petroleum reach the Niger delta
caused by accidents and oil robbery. |
|
 |
|
Industrial city Norilsk, Russia
In Norilsk, a Russian industrial city, almost 500 tons of copper and
nickel oxides as well as 2 million tons of sulfur oxide are released
into the air. The air pollution is so extreme that factory workers' life
expectancy in Norilsk is 10 years less than the Russian average.
|
|
 |