The world's 10 most polluted places

Most are the results of industrial pollution from big companies. The owners are only concerned with making as much money as possible.

http://www.mnn.com/health/healthy-spaces/stories/the-worlds-10-most-polluted-places

The Blacksmith Institute's list features locations where the air or the water is fraught with nuclear, chemical, petroleum and industrial waste.

By Megan Gannon, LiveScience
Wed, Nov 06 2013

Remote industrial towns, e-waste processing centers and the site of an infamous nuclear disaster top 2013's worst polluted places, according to a new list from the New York-based nonprofit Blacksmith Institute.

The toxic locations are not ranked, but they include Chernobyl, Ukraine, which is still suffering the consequences of a radioactive meltdown that occurred in 1986; the Niger River Delta in Nigeria, where each year 240,000 barrels of crude oil are spilled; and Hazaribagh, Bangladesh, where carcinogens enter the water supply from more than 200 tanneries concentrated in a small area of the city.

"In this year's report, we cite some of the most polluted places we've encountered. But it is important to point out that the problem is really much larger than these 10 sites," Richard Fuller, president of the Blacksmith Institute, dedicated to eliminating life-threatening polluting in developing countries, said in a statement. "We estimate that the health of more than 200 million people is at risk from pollution in the developing world."

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According to the report, the World Health Organization (the public health arm of the United Nations) has estimated that 23 percent of deaths in the developing world can be attributed to environmental factors like pollution. Besides cancer, exposure to toxic chemicals can cause acute and chronic poisoning, cognitive impairment, organ damage and respiratory problems, the report said, adding that children are most vulnerable to these impacts.

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