POLLUTION HOTSPOTS

Here are some of the most polluted places on Earth

MATANZA-RIACHUELO ARGENTINA

The waste and sewage pumped out from tanneries, chemical plants and factories has created Argentina’s most polluted waterways. The Matanza-riachuelo River Basin runs over 37 miles, spanning an area around 5,700 square miles, and is home to at least 15,000 small industries that feed pollutants, including heavy metals, into its waters. It’s reported that 25 per cent of children living in the urban slums around the Riachuelo’s basin have lead in their bloodstream. In 2019, the World Bank board of directors approved two loans totalling $395 million (£286 million) to projects constructing better sanitation infrastructure around the river.

LAHORE PAKISTAN

The tall buildings of Pakistan’s secondlargest city are often concealed by dense rolling smog, created from a combination of vehicle and industrial emissions. Lahore frequently ranks at the top of the most polluted cities around the world for its air quality. During 2020, Lahore’s PM2.5 average was 79.2 micrograms per cubic metre. Air pollution is a sizable problem in Pakistan, accounting for an estimated 128,000 deaths each year.

NIGER RIVER DELTA NIGERIA

Since the mid-20th century, this 27,000 square mile region of Nigeria has been polluted with petroleum. Around 240,000 barrels of crude oil – equal to around 40 million litres – are spilled each year. Largescale oil extraction by energy companies such as Shell began in the area in 1956. Since then, mangrove swamps that would have been bursting with wildlife have been choked with thick oil from operational spills.

AGBOGBLOSHIE GHANA

Welcome to the world’s largest digital dumping ground. On the banks of the Korle Lagoon, heaps of ‘e-waste’ dominate the landscape; discarded refrigerators, crushed car parts and cracked computers appear to be permanent neighbours of the

80,000 residents. Only 20 per cent of e-waste is recycled worldwide – the rest enters dumping sites. The waste is tackled by burning it, resulting in toxic smoke billowing into the air.

NORILSK RUSSIA

Norilsk is an industrial city that was founded in 1935. It was once home to one of the world’s largest heavy metal smelting plants. Historically the city has been the source of large-scale pollution, with millions of tonnes of heavy metals such as zinc, lead and even arsenic released into the atmosphere. In May 2020, more than 20,000 tonnes of diesel fuel was spilled into the water and soil of Norilsk’s Ambarnaya River. The fuel storage tank belonged to Norilsk Nickel, one of Russia’s largest nickel, platinum and copper producers.

GHAZIABAD INDIA

This industrial city has the second-worst air quality in the world. The streets of Ghaziabad fill with smoke, dust and noxious haze, born from human activity and the city’s topography. There are over 34 million residents of Ghaziabad, and through large amounts of nitrogen dioxide vehicle emissions and city expansion, the city has been left with a PM2.5 average of 106.6 micrograms per cubic metre. Guidelines set out by the World Health Organization (WHO) state that annual mean concentrations of PM2.5 shouldn’t exceed five micrograms per cubic metre.

CITARUM RIVER INDONESIA

In the West Java province of Indonesia runs one of the world’s most polluted rivers, the Citarum. This river has 5,000 times the mandatory limit of faecal coliform bacteria and 1,000 times the acceptable level of lead set by the US Environmental Protection Agency. The river’s high level of pollution comes from industrial waste and sewage overflow. Since 2009 the number of fish in the river has decreased by 60 per cent. Although the river is highly polluted, it still provides treated drinking water for millions of people in cities such as Bandung, Cianjur and Bekasi. The water also flows into three reservoirs to generate electricity for Java and the Bali province.

HAZARIBAGH BANGLADESH

At the heart of Bangladesh’s capital city, Dhaka, is an industrial area called Hazaribagh. Hazaribagh is a hotspot for chromium pollution from the 150 tanneries that were once found in the region. Heavy metals such as chromium are by-products of the process of tanning leather, and are often suspended in wastewater. Around 22,000 cubic litres of toxic waste, including chromium, is dumped in Hazaribagh’s main river every day. Despite the tanning industry relocating out of the area in 2017, water and soil samples show that chromium contamination still poses a threat to groundwater quality.