Chemicals, Radiation and Ever-Burning Fires: 11 Toxic Places Humans Call Home

Clean air, fresh water and uncontaminated soil - these are all things we tend to take for granted, but there are places on Earth where deadly pollution is just a part of life. Let's take a look at...

1. Kabwe, Zambia
2. La Oroya, Peru
3. Atacama Desert, Chile
4. Mailuu-Suu, Kyrgyzstan
5. Dzerzhinsk, Russia
6. Hotan, China
7. Chernoybyl, Ukraine
8. Sukinda, India
9. Norilsk, Russia
10. Vapi, India
11. Centralia, America

1. Kabwe, Zambia

The town of Kabwe in Zambia holds a deeply unwelcome distinction - it's considered the most toxic town on Earth.

Kabwe is situated near Africa's Copperbelt, but its defining feature was a lead (along with zinc and other minerals) mine and a giant smelter to process the mine's products. It may have once been a source of work and prosperity, but a century of digging has contaminated the soil with lead - and high concentrations of that neurotoxic metal end up in the very blood of the town's children. In fact, lead levels in the soil often exceed 10,000 parts per million (the "safe" limit in the USA is 400ppm.) On the ominously named "Black Mountain" formed from the slag and spoil of the mining operations, this figure can reach a catastrophic 60,000ppm - and locals scavenging for metal and rock experience prolonged exposure.

The effects are long lasting. Palsy, learning disabilities, blindness, paralysis, brain damage and even death are all symptoms of lead poisoning... and to make matters even worse, the effects are considered irreversible.

2. La Oroya, Peru

Between 1922 and 2009, a smelter churned out toxic smoke and fumes in the city of La Oroya... and by 2013, it was determined that almost 100% the children of La Oroya had elevated lead levels in their blood. Tests of other residents added cadmium and arsenic to that worrying finding.

Respiratory illnesses, burning throats and eyes, tumors, muscle problems and infertility were commonplace - and in 2021, the Inter-American Commission ruled that Peru was obligated to provide medical care and protect the residents from further harm.

Though the fume-spewing smelting plant went bankrupt and shut down in 2009, many of the remaining residents are desperate for it to reopen - it was responsible of most of the money in the city.

3. Atacama Desert, Chile

The Atacama Desert is a fascinating place. Not only is it the world's driest non-polar desert and home to the Chinchorro mummies predating those of Egypt, the sands are laced with arsenic. The area is so saturated that the locals have evolved a resistance to this deadly metal

In recent years another pollutant has been added to the desert - it has become a graveyard for the cast-offs of "fast fashion." Taking advantage of a duty-free port established in Iquique, countries can send their unwanted clothing to the Atacama where it will be sorted, scavenged and in a large part, dumped onto the sands. Here the non-biodegradable materials will remain, slowly being ground into fibers and microplastics that contaminate the region.

4. Mailuu-Suu, Kyrgyzstan

Mailuu-Suu used to be closed to outsiders while it served as a mining hub, providing materials crucial to the Soviet nuclear program. The historical importance of this town is clear - it produced around 10,000 metric tons of radioactive uranium between 1946 and 1967.

What's less obvious is the amount of radioactive waste this produced. Old dump sites can be found along the riverside where ore was milled, buried beneath the surface and supposedly marked by warning fences... though many of these have been looted or simply fallen into disrepair.

These dumps were an expedient short-term solution to storing the unwanted byproducts of the mining operation, but now radioactive waste can leech into the river or produce radon gas that seeps up through the soil. This danger is largely imperceptible to the locals, who fish in the river and farm livestock above the tainted ground. Many locals eventually experience cancer or the symptoms of radiation poisoning as a result.

5. Dzerzhinsk, Russia

The Guinness World Record holder for the most chemically polluted place on Earth is the city of Dzerzhinsk. It was heavily involved in the Soviet chemical weapons program between 1941 and 1965, and a number of chemical plants still operate in the area to this day.

This focus on chemicals left a serious mark on the area, with much of the waste simply being buried and forgotten. The water near Dzerzhinsk is contaminated with dioxins and phenols, though saturated might be a better word - levels are 17 million times the recommended limit.

The effects of the tainted water and other hazards are hard to measure, but a 2007 study determined the life expectancy of a man in Dzerzhinsk was 42 - women fared slightly better at 47.

6. Hotan, China

Though many will be familiar with images of Chinese citizens wearing masks to counter the pervasive industrial smog, a "war on pollution" has led to dramatic improvements in the city air quality of China. Sadly, not everywhere in China has experienced the same level of improvement.

In 2020, Hotan in the Xinjiang region "won" the Guinness world record for the city with the worst air quality - it contained more than 10 times the particulates considered safe by the World Health Organization.

Though the heavy industry of Hotan must carry part of the blame, the situation is partially due to dust storms blowing in from the Taklamakan Desert!

7. Chernoybyl, Ukraine

In 1986, the Chernobyl Power Plant's reactor 4 experienced meltdown. The resulting explosion contaminated around 150,000 square kilometers, reaching areas up to 500 kilometers from the plant and allowed radioactive fallout to scatter over most of the northern hemisphere. A 30km radius area around the site was designated as an exclusion zone, and it has since been extended to include a number of radiation hotspots.

Some former human inhabitants have elected to return to the zone. This is in spite of a persistent raised level of radiation throughout the area, with long term exposure being considered... ill advised.

Many animals in the area show abnormalities - birds tend to have smaller brains, trees grow slowly and there are comparatively fewer insects and arachnids. Even the bacteria and fungi that normally rot organic matter have been affected - and in some areas, dead trees have failed to decay as a result.

8. Sukinda, India

Chromite is a crucial component of stainless steel, but it's not something you want to be exposed to. It's carcinogenic, can cause respiratory problems, organ damage and produce long-lasting "chrome sores."

Sukinda in India holds 97% of India's chromite deposits and has large open cast mines dedicated to its extraction. Approximately 60% of the drinking water in the region has over double the international standard for this deadly mineral.

9. Norilsk, Russia

Norlisk is a closed city in the far north of Russia - in fact, it's considered the world's northernmost city. Access to the city is restricted and information is limited, but Norilsk Nickel (now Nornickel) dominates the city - and the focus on metal processing has led to massive amounts of pollution seeping into the surrounding area.

The contamination can reach almost biblical levels. Run-off and leaks have turned the Daldykan River bright red on several occasions, while residents speak of red and black snow, blue fog that causes an itch in the throat and even being able to tell what the factories are processing by the scent of leaking gasses. Efforts to reduce the environmental impact of Norilsk have actually begun - but the damage to the area is severe.

10. Vapi, India

Where Sukinda is the victim of mining, Vapi has fallen victim to manufacturing. Dyes, petrochemicals, fertilizers and pesticides, textiles and tanning, paint, drugs and heavy metals have all contaminated the region.

As a result, the groundwater of Vapi is reportedly almost 100 times more contaminated than the safety standards of the World Health Organization. This pollution has bled into local produce as well, some of which can contain 60 times the quantities of heavy metals that you'd expect in produce grown elsewhere.

11. Centralia, America

Credited with being the inspiration for the Silent Hill franchise, Centralia was once home to rich coal beds and a prosperous mining industry... until 1962, when the Buck Mountain Coal Bed caught fire.

The story goes that residents using a played-out mining pit to burn trash failed to make a proper barrier to stop the fire spreading. During the burn, the flames spread down the remaining bits of coal (a bit like a fuse) before igniting the the main bed. Being underground and thus incredibly hard to reach, the coal has smoldered and burned ever since.

The burning coal (and assorted impurities) releases hot and frequently toxic gasses that seep up through cracks and fissures in the ground. Carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, sulfur dioxide and more can lead to a sudden and invisible end for an unsuspecting wanderer, while the gas or ground itself can reach dangerous temperatures - or even give way below an explorer's feet.

Only a handful of residents remain in this ghost town and visitors are discouraged - the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania warns that "Walking and/or driving in the immediate area could result in serious injury or death."

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Sources and Further Info:

• The world's most toxic town: the terrible legacy of Zambia's lead mines
• Health or survival? The impossible choice facing one Peruvian mining community
• Desert people evolve to drink water poisoned with deadly arsenic
• Fast fashion goes to die in the world's largest fog desert. The scale is breathtaking.
• ‘Everyone associates the dumps with death’: the Kyrgyz town built on nuclear waste
• The vestiges of chemical warfare
• City with the worst air pollution
• Frequently Asked Chernobyl Questions
• Forests Around Chernobyl Aren’t Decaying Properly
• Vapi, Surat in Earth's top 10 polluted
• Where the river runs red: can Norilsk, Russia's most polluted city, come clean?
• Centralia Mine Fire Resources