The World's Most Polluted Places

Forbes: The World's Most Polluted Places

Black snow. Coal dust. Sulfuric air. Welcome to life in the world's most polluted places.

Chockablock with heavy metals, chemical waste, air pollutants and, in the case of infamous Chernobyl, Ukraine, deadly radiation, these are the worst industrial cesspools on earth--and they rarely make headlines. Nothing in the West compares.

"In some towns, life expectancy approaches medieval rates, and birth defects are the norm, not the exception," according to the nonprofit Blacksmith Institute, which compiled the list earlier this fall. "In others, children's asthma rates are measured above 90%, and mental retardation is endemic."

China, India and Russia landed six cities on this list of 10. Fast-track economic growth and years of unregulated mining and chemical production have laid waste to the homes of millions. ...

Four of the locations are in the former Soviet Union; two are in China, two are in India, and one each in Peru and Zambia.

I wrote last week about the economic fallacy that Free Markets Destroy the Environment. I made the case that the biggest contributors to environmental destruction are poverty and the absence of well-protected property rights. People who are poor can't afford to be worried about their environment, and in the absence of the rule of law, especially with regard to property rights, people have no recourse against pollution externalities. Six of the ten top pollution sites are in communist or formerly communist nations. India is a developing nation that has, until recently, operated under a socialist model. The remaining two are developing countries.

Comments

[Godofredo Arauzo]

POLLUTION TO THE OROYA CITY

The years 2006 and 2007 the Blacksmith Institute have accomplished a research about the cities more contaminated to the world and arrived to the conclusion that the Oroya City was between the 10 cities more polluted of the world: Blacksmith Institute have be benevolent; according to my researchs to many years that I am publishing, the Oroya is the more polluted to Peru, Latin America and of the world and every day is being more polluted: lead in blood in children in the Ancient Oroya in average 53.7 ug/dl ( DIGESA 1999); pregnancies women 39.49 ig/dl ( UNES 2000), new borns children 19.06 ug/dl, puerperal 319 ug/100 grams/placenta ( Castro 2003) and workers 50 ig/dl ( Doe Run 2003). Top lead in blood accepted 10 ug/dl; present day is 0 ug/dl ( Pediatric of Academy to USA)

When the Oroya city was in hands to the CentroMin eliminated only by the upper chimney to 167.500 meters, in average by day in tons: sulfur dioxide 1000, lead 2500, arsenic 2500, cadmium, particulate matter 50 and so on, more 24,000 to toxis gas product to the incomplete combustion of the coal, without count it is eliminated by industrial incinerator y by the 97 smalls chimneys, it is estimated 15,000 (PAMA . El Complejo Metalúrgico de la Oroya, 1996); they add 45,000 tons by day,

Doe Run envoy every three months the concentrations of the heavy metals to the Ministry to the Energy and Mines and with the sames datums Ceverstav have demostrated the pollution was increased; for example the sulfur dioxide it have increased in near to 300 %, by increment to the production (Cederstav. La Oroya no Espera 2002

The American Assotiation to the Environment say that the environmental quality to the Oroya it is serius deteriorated since that Doe Run was owner and the same enterprise

declared that the concentrations of the heavy metals gas it is ncreased in the air: lead 1160 %, cadmium 1990 % and arsenic 6006 % (Portugal, et al. Los Humos de Doe Run 2003)

[Michael W. Kruse]

Godofredo, thank you for this added information.