Back in the 17th century, Peter I issued a decree controlling the observance of cleanliness in the capital city and due punishment for polluting the streets. According to the document, it was forbidden to throw garbage into the street, on the contrary, it was prescribed full control over the cleanliness of streets and pavements, as well as garbage removal outside Moscow. I wonder what cities today need such a decree? Let's look at the most polluted cities in the world.
This city has long been a major leather center. Over the years, the scale of production has become larger, but the technology of leather dressing has not changed for more than a hundred years. In Bangladesh, there are about three hundred leather industries, more than 90% of them are concentrated in Hazaribagh. The methods of leather dressing used in factories are not only outdated, but also very negative for the surrounding atmosphere.
How does the dirtiest city in the world live? Every day, more than 20,000 liters of industrial waste, which contains high concentrations of chromium, is discharged into the local river Buriganga. The air element also suffers, taking a huge portion of toxic substances during the burning of waste soaked in reagents. The ecological situation in Hazaribagh is the most unfavorable, everything in the city is in critical condition: air, water, plants and animals. The meat of local birds and animals is extremely hazardous to health.
The increased concentration of chromium in the air leads to the fact that local residents develop chronic respiratory diseases, as well as an increased risk of cancer. At the moment, about 15 thousand people work at the plant, including women and children. They accept workers from an early age, upon reaching the age of eleven, children begin hard work. In order to process raw materials, a solution of hexavalent chromium is used in production, which is exactly what affected the ecological situation of Hazaribagh.
This Russian city is one of the largest centers of non-ferrous metallurgy. But this is not what brought fame to Norilsk, unfortunately, it is the dirtiest of all. Every year the Norilsk air is "enriched" with a huge amount of copper, nickel oxide and sulfur dioxide. More than 2 million tons of harmful compounds are annually emitted into the atmosphere. Because of this, not only the air suffers, but also the soil and water. According to statistics, the local population lives 10 years less than the inhabitants of other cities.
In the modern world, all kinds of gadgets have become objects of mass use. It's hard to imagine our life without them. But few people think about where a broken or outdated phone or microwave goes. But the residents of Accra, the capital of Ghana, know this firsthand. There is an entire area in the city where electronic waste is buried, flowing from other countries to the largest landfill on the planet.
Ghana imports e-waste every year, mostly from Western Europe. The amount of waste entering the landfill is simply shocking - about 215 thousand tons per year, and this is without taking into account our own waste, which reaches 130 thousand tons annually. Some of the waste is recycled by local enterprises that restore electrical appliances. But the part that is not suitable for recycling is burned, which caused pollution of the city.
Beijing is the most polluted city on the planet, according to representatives of the European space agency. It was here that the highest content of nitrogen dioxide in the atmosphere was recorded. In the capital, and in other cities, more than four hundred thousand people die every year due to unfavorable ecology.
There are just a huge number of cars in Beijing, there are about 2.5 million of them in total. Automotive emissions are a major contributor to greenhouse gases, which are second only to the United States in China.
More than a century ago, lead deposits were discovered in Kabwe, the second largest city in Zambia. Since then, lead has been mined here, whose waste leads to poisoning of the soil and everything around. The city has become extremely toxic, it is dangerous not only to drink water, but even to breathe. And this applies to land within a radius of several kilometers from the city. The level of lead in the blood of the local population is dozens of times higher than the permissible norm.
This city has long been considered one of the worst, given the level of atmospheric pollution. And all this is explained by the fact that in the quarter of the poor, zaballins, garbage is processed. The quarter was even called the city of garbage, since here poor people have to collect, sort and prepare various waste for further processing with their own hands. All this looks extremely unsightly.
The first floors of the shacks of the Egyptian slums are reserved for sorting and packing waste, ordinary people live on the upper floors. The streets, stairs, even the roofs of the slums are buried under mountains of garbage, often already decomposed. It is customary to burn plastic right on the streets, this, as well as sorting, is done by women and kids. The men are responsible for the removal. Right there, in the plastic-poisoned air, the poor cook, sell cakes and fruits, and in general, live a full life. Eastern Cairo is bathed in garbage, which has long been considered an ecological disaster zone.
The capital city is on the 9th line in the ranking of the most environmentally unfavorable cities in India, and New Delhi is not inferior to many industrial cities in the world list. Not surprising, because there are just a huge number of cars that pollute the air. Delhi is not inferior to megacities, there are more than 8 million cars in the city! Sewer drains, bypassing the purification process, go directly to the Jumnu River. Among the poor from the slums, it is customary to burn waste right on the street. More than half of the population lives in unsanitary conditions. Researchers at the Harvard Institute have calculated that two out of five local residents have lung diseases.
In addition to the capital, India has the same polluted cities. For example, industrial Lucknow is in first place in terms of pollution, followed by Mumbai, and then Calcutta.
As you know, in the 86th year of the last century, the fourth power unit of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant exploded. More than 150,000 square kilometers turned out to be under the radioactive cloud. The epicenter of the explosion turned into an exclusion zone, the local population was taken out. Chernobyl literally emptied before our eyes, turning into a ghost town. Nobody has lived here for more than thirty years. In the philistine understanding, Chernobyl is quite a favorable place, because now there are no industries, people who leave behind waste, cars do not pollute the air. Radiation cannot be seen or touched. But, nevertheless, the city remains one of the most dangerous for humans on the planet.
The town, located in the Chelyabinsk region, became famous for its plant, which processes copper. It is because of the waste of this production that Karabash is in such a deplorable state. At the end of the last century, the city was declared an ecological disaster zone. Now about 15 thousand people live here, each of whom is at great risk to their health.
Vegetation is almost completely absent here, and the territory itself is more like landscapes, often flashing in science fiction films. Scorched earth, mountains of waste, cracked orange earth, equally strange and unreal reservoirs, acid rain. Lead, arsenic, sulfur and copper products are in the air. In 2009, the city was removed from the list of the most polluted, this is due to the start of the modernization of the plant.
The dirtiest cities in the world, whose photos look more like a frame from the scariest horror films, are dangerous for the entire planet. The water cycle in nature, soil migration, air currents carry toxic substances over vast territories in all directions, leaving no chance to isolate themselves from this problem. According to experts, more than a billion people on Earth suffer from the harmful effects of toxins and dangerous chemicals. That is why the problem cannot be placed within the framework of one city, it should be solved promptly and on a global scale.
We all tend to complain about our own lives, the conditions and the place where we live. Have you ever thought that there are people who live much worse and more difficult than you? This is worth thinking about at least once in your life. Today we will share with you the ranking of the top 10 dirtiest cities in the world. Not only is it unpleasant to be in these cities, but there is also a high risk to life. And people still live there. Now you will have the opportunity to see from the outside the living conditions of some people. This will help you understand how good it is to live clean and tidy.
We will tell you about the most polluted cities in the world and reveal to you the reasons why they have become so. Sometimes, it is even difficult to imagine that people can really exist in such conditions. These are not all places, but only a part of the most unsightly places on our planet. Well, it's time to start. The faint of heart, as they say, please leave.
10 Rudnaya Pristan, Russia.
The Russian city opens the rating with the dirtiest cities in the world. An estimated 90,000 people are considered potentially infected. And all because of harmful substances such as mercury, lead and cadmium, which pollute everything around. These substances are contained in everything that a person needs so much: in drinking water, fauna and soil. As a result, local residents cannot fully obtain the necessary water, grow crops, it is simply dangerous for health. Even the blood of local children contains many dangerous substances that exceed the norm by an unacceptable number of times. But it doesn't get any better. Every year the scale of pollution is increasing.
9 Ranipet, India.
In this area there is a large tannery engaged in leather tanning and dyeing. Chromium salts, sodium chromate and other harmful substances are used to work at the plant, and subsequently tons of hazardous waste, instead of being eliminated and disposed of, end up in groundwater. Drinking water, groundwater and soil become unusable, this not only makes people sick, there are many deaths. However, local farmers continue to toil on the contaminated land, watering their crops with polluted water.
8 Norilsk, Russia.
Norilsk is a city with a huge number of plants and factories where heavy metals are smelted. As a result, harmful substances such as nickel, strontium, copper, etc. are constantly in the air. You will not envy the inhabitants of the city. Snow, more like mud, and the air tasting sulphurous. But this is not the worst. Mortality is increased, life expectancy is much less than the average for the country, and almost everyone here has illnesses. Foreign tourists no longer come to Norilsk, because even a short stay in this city can affect the state of health, which will then be very difficult to recover.
7 Mailuu-Suu, Kyrgyzstan.
In the immediate vicinity of this settlement there is a huge burial of radioactive substances. The level of radiation in these places exceeds the norm by dozens of times. Since landslides and floods due to earthquakes, as well as heavy rains and mudflows, are considered frequent phenomena in this area, hazardous substances will spread throughout the region at lightning speed. As a result, locals and residents of the surrounding area suffer from oncology.
6 LinFeng, China.
Linfeng, although not the dirtiest city in the world, but in the country, perhaps, it is he who has the worst environmental situation. The air contains such harmful substances as lead, carbon, ash, etc. The content of these substances has long exceeded all permissible norms. We can say that the Chinese themselves are to blame for this. Everyone knows that the country is in dire need of coal, so hundreds of mines are being created throughout the territory, sometimes illegal and completely unregulated. Alas, Linfeng City has become a kind of mine. As a result, people suffer, getting severe and incurable diseases.
5 La Oroya, Peru.
This small mining town has long been subject to emissions of toxic substances released into the atmosphere due to the work of a local factory. The blood of local children contains an amount of lead that has long exceeded all norms. As a result, children are forced to suffer from serious illnesses. And the vegetation in this city has long been forgotten. Everything that once grew here was destroyed by acid rain.
4 Kabwe, Zambia.
In the last century, rich deposits of lead were discovered in this city. The air is so polluted with heavy metals, the norms are exceeded by 4 times. Residents reap the most severe consequences of ingestion of hazardous substances: vomiting, diarrhea, blood poisoning, chronic kidney disease and even muscle atrophy.
3 Haina, Dominican Republic.
In this area is a factory that produces car batteries. The waste from this plant is very dangerous because it contains a very high lead content. The amount of this substance is so critical that it exceeds the norm not at times and not even tens, but thousands of times! It's hard to even imagine. The most common diseases in this area are congenital malformations, mental disorders and eye diseases.2 Dzerzhinsk, Russia.
Once this city was the center where they were engaged in the production of chemical weapons. After illegally written off and dumped into groundwater were tons of chemical waste. People in this city don't live to old age. Men, at best, live up to 42 years, and women a little more - up to 47 years. According to estimates, the death rate in Dzerzhinsk has long exceeded the birth rate by 2.6 times. The forecast is not the most optimistic. It is sad that in the top ten dirtiest cities in the world, our country occupies 3 lines at once.
1 Chernobyl, Ukraine.
Chernobyl takes 1st place in the ranking and receives the title of the dirtiest city in the world. There is probably no person on earth who has not heard about the catastrophe that occurred in Chernobyl. During the ongoing tests at the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, the core of the reactor melted, and a terrible explosion occurred. From this, 30 people died immediately on the spot. 135 thousand people were evacuated. Since then, no one has lived in the city. We also remember the bombs that were once dropped on Hiroshima and Nagasaki, and so the explosion that occurred in Chernobyl resulted in a hundred times greater release of radioactive substances. This tragedy will forever remain in the hearts and memory of people. And the consequences of this accident are visible to this day.
The dirtiest city in the world | Video
We live in an era of rapid development of science and technology, when many things that seem incredible become available to anyone in a few years. But every coin has a flip side. The pace of production is forcing the speed of mining and waste processing to increase exponentially. In pursuit of money, the powerful of this world often prefer not to pay attention to the environment. They turn vast territories unsuitable for life, causing irreparable damage to nature and human health. To your attention - the rating of the dirtiest cities on our planet.
Antananarivo, Madagascar
Antananarivo - a city of garbage and rotThe island of Madagascar, known throughout the world for its unique flora and fauna, is often given the honorary title of the eighth continent. Unfortunately, the negative consequences of human activity make themselves felt here too. First of all, in the capital. It is relatively clean here only in a few tourist areas, while in other areas of the city rotting garbage is scattered everywhere, among which, as if nothing had happened, local residents are walking around.
Baku, Azerbaijan
Oil production put Baku on the brink of ecological catastrophe According to authoritative environmentalists and analysts, Baku has been on the list of the most polluted cities in the world for several years now. Worst of all, no improvement trend is visible – instead, the ecological situation is only getting worse from year to year. This is primarily due to the giant industrial oil refining complexes located in the capital of Azerbaijan, polluting the atmosphere, as well as hundreds of oil wells, from which millions of barrels of "black gold" are continuously produced.
Dhaka, Bangladesh
A city of 15 million where you can forget about hygiene and cleanliness More than 15 million people live in the capital of Bangladesh, Dhaka. But there is a catastrophic lack of clean drinking water. The same liquid that the locals drink contains an incredible number of viruses and pathogens. But this problem is far from the only one. All quarters of Dhaka are literally littered with mountains of garbage, and locals often go to the toilet right in the middle of the street. The air quality is also appalling. Due to huge traffic jams, the level of gas contamination here many times exceeds the permissible values.
Haina, Dominican Republic
Beach in Heine The densely populated area of the tropical paradise of our planet - the Dominican Republic, is incredibly heavily polluted with lead. Not far from it is a closed factory for the production of car batteries. All waste on it is not disposed of, but simply thrown away.
This is interesting: The content of lead in the organisms of local residents and soil exceeds normal values by hundreds, and in some places even thousands of times. Is it any wonder that the most common disease in this city is heavy metal poisoning? And it, in turn, leads to deterioration of vision, weakening of the immune system, mental disorders and all kinds of congenital deformities.
Kabwe, Zambia
Kabwe should not be approached even 10 kilometers Near the second largest city in Zambia, located at a distance of 150 kilometers from the administrative capital of the country, by an unfortunate coincidence for local residents, rich deposits of lead were discovered. For about 100 years, this metal has been mined and processed here at an accelerated pace, and production waste is increasingly poisoning the earth, water and air. Less than 10 kilometers from the city of Kabwe, it is undesirable not only to drink water, but even just to be and breathe the air. The concentration of lead in the blood of the inhabitants of this mountain is 10 times more than the permissible limit.
Sumgayit, Azerbaijan
Sumgayit neighborhoods store thousands of tons of dangerous substances This city of almost 300,000 people is forced to suffer from the legacy of its Soviet past. Previously, it was a powerful center of the chemical industry, created by the decision of Joseph Stalin. In total, over 120,000 tons of hazardous substances were released into the environment, including mercury, oil production waste, and numerous organic fertilizers. Today, most factories are closed, but there is still no one to clean up local reservoirs and restore the land. The surroundings of Sumgayit resemble some kind of post-apocalyptic desert.
Chernobyl, Ukraine
Abandoned city on the Pripyat river After the infamous explosion of the 4th block of the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, which happened in 1986, the most dangerous radioactive cloud covered an area of over 150,000 square kilometers. A closed exclusion zone was created around the epicenter of the tragedy, all locals were taken out of it and given a special status. Chernobyl, in just a few days, became a ghost town, in which there have been no inhabitants for almost 3 decades. In the traditional sense, this city is a fairly clean place. There are no people and, accordingly, harmful production here, trees grow everywhere, the air is fresh. Yes, only dosimeters show unacceptable levels of radiation. With a long stay in Chernobyl, people earn radiation sickness, after which they have a very short time to live.
Norilsk, Russia
In Norilsk, people live 10 years less than the average in Russia The Russian branch of ecological hell is located beyond the Arctic Circle. About 180 thousand people live here. Previously, Norilsk was a labor camp, until one of the largest metallurgical plants on the planet was built by the prisoners. Its pipe annually releases into the atmosphere over 4 million tons of hazardous chemical compounds with a high content of arsenic, cadmium, copper vapor, lead, nickel. Norilsk constantly smells of sulfur, black snow falls with enviable constancy. Surprisingly, a city that produces a quarter of the world's production of platinum, over 30% of palladium and about 20% of nickel, cannot (or does not want to) allocate enough money to stop poisoning its inhabitants. And, sadly, they are 4-5 times more likely to die from respiratory diseases than in other regions of Russia. The average life expectancy of workers at the Norilsk Metallurgical Plant is 10.8 years less than the average for all of Russia. By the way, entry to Norilsk is closed for foreigners.
This is interesting: Nature, it seems, has long since left this terrible place. Not a single tree grows at a distance of 50 kilometers from the Norilsk smelting furnaces!
Dzerzhinsk, Russia
In 2003, Dzerzhinsk entered the Guinness Book of Records as the dirtiest city. The city of Dzerzhinsk and its 300,000 permanent residents inherited more than 0.3 million tons of deadly chemical compounds from the so-called "cold war" between Russia and the United States. They were buried in its immediate vicinity from 1938 to 1998. The content of phenol in the underground waters of the city exceeds the norm, attention, by 17 million (!) Times. The situation with dioxides is no better. In 2003, Dzerzhinsk was included in the Guinness Book of Records in the nomination "the dirtiest city on the planet." The average life expectancy for men is less than 42 years, for women - about 47. The death rate in Dzerzhinsk exceeds the birth rate by an incredible 260%!
La Oroya, Peru
La Oroya - the center of mining of heavy metals A small Peruvian town, located in the foothills of the Andes, at the beginning of the 20th century became the center of metallurgy. For more than 100 years, copper, lead, and zinc have been mined here at an accelerated pace. Ecology is of little interest. The concentration of heavy metals in the blood of the inhabitants of La Oroya exceeds the maximum allowable values by several times, while mortality among children is almost the highest in the world. The surroundings of the city are more reminiscent of a lunar landscape: here you will not see any trees, bushes, or even elementary grass. For many kilometers around - only bare land.
Vapi, India
Industrial waste is dumped into the river. Vapi, India In India, the economy is not developing as rapidly as in China, but even here there are enough large industrial centers in which no one cares about the environmental situation. Small by the standards of Southeast Asia, the city of Vapi (about 70 thousand inhabitants) is located in the middle of a 400-kilometer zone of factories and enterprises. All waste from large metallurgical plants, life-threatening chemical factories is dumped here. The concentration of mercury in groundwater is 96 times higher than the limit value. The soil and air contain a huge amount of evaporation of heavy metals. It is not surprising that only a select few residents of Vapi live to be 50 years old (it would be hard to call them the lucky ones).
Sukinda, India
Sukinda - a city where deadly chromium is mined Chromium is one of the metals without which the industrial smelting of stainless steel is impossible. It is widely used in the process of tanning leather. Yes, that's just hexavalent chromium - a deadly carcinogen that enters the human body through water or air. Some of the largest open-pit mines on the planet from which this metal is extracted are located in the vicinity of the Indian city of Sukinda. There is no environmental control on them at all. As a result, the content of carcinogenic chromium compounds in drinking water is much higher than the norm. Almost 85% of the diseases of local residents are caused by this particular chemical.
Tianying, China
The soil in Tianying is soaked with lead The city of Tianying, located in the northeast of the Celestial Empire, is known for its metallurgical centers, the largest in the entire country of 1.5 billion people. About 50% of China's lead is mined here. Tianying is shrouded in bluish smoke almost at any time, but this is far from the worst thing for its inhabitants. Due to the neglect of environmental requirements, the soil here is literally saturated with lead. From it, this heavy metal enters the body of children, destroys it from the inside and causes dementia.
This is interesting: Residents of Tianying are very irritable, lethargic, they regularly suffer from memory lapses caused by the same reason - the high content of lead in the blood.
Wheat grown near Tianying is not sold in domestic or foreign markets. It contains almost 25 times more lead than is allowed by Chinese law.
Linfen, China
The dirtiest city in the world The title of the dirtiest city on the planet belongs to the Chinese coal mining center Linfen. Literally 40 years ago it was called the "Modern City of Fruits and Flowers", however, a change in the vector of the country's economic policy required an increase in the volume of energy resources. The rapid development of the coal and chemical industries began.
Linfen's plants and factories are constantly emitting exhaust gas containing hundreds of deadly compounds, wastewater. Over the city at any time, like a fog, smog hangs. Around the factories for many years, as all the trees withered. River water resembles thick oil in color and consistency. A record percentage of people in the world suffer from cancer here. People get up and go to bed in rooms full of coal dust. No one hangs the washed clothes on the balcony for drying, because in just an hour it turns black.
The saddest thing is to realize that most of the cities on this list were not always like this. Unfortunately, people's pursuit of useful resources for the sake of enrichment has made them forget about the environment. And flourishing cities in a matter of decades turned into branches of hell on earth. And millions of their inhabitants are doomed to suffering and torment. How can you not think here that our civilization has been very late on this once beautiful planet ...
Karabash- a city in the Chelyabinsk region with a population of 15,000 people. Karabash arose in 1822 after the discovery of gold placers on the site of an ancient Tatar settlement. The name Karabash in Tatar means "black head". At the beginning of the 20th century, copper began to be mined in Karabash. After several decades of copper ore mining and copper smelting, the city has become an environmental emergency. Initially, there were no treatment facilities at the plant - in the days of the USSR, no one thought about ecology.
For 100 years, the plant managed to burn out and cover with slag a huge area around it. During the year of operation, the plant emits more than 180 tons of gases into the atmosphere, which fall in the form of acid rain on the adjacent territory.
2. In the 19th century, deposits of copper ore were discovered in the valley, and in 1837 the first copper smelter was built, which lasted five years. The Old Copper Plant was the second copper plant in the valley and was built in 1907. This plant worked for three years. In 1910, a new copper smelter was launched in the valley near Mount Karabash, which is still in operation. Five years after the opening, the plant produced a third of all Russian copper.
3. The mountain, located on the border of the city, has completely lost its forest cover. On Bald Mountain in Karabash, the inscription "Save and save" is painted. Above the inscription is an iron cross made of pieces of channel. We will climb it later.
4. The city is dusty and very difficult to breathe. Recently, the problem of the erosion of the city dump by the flood waters of the Sak-Elga River has been added to the problems of emissions from the copper smelter.
5. And here is the culprit of the ecological catastrophe - the copper smelter. In the Sak-Elga river, the level of iron content is 500 times higher than the permissible norm. At a distance of 100 meters from the coast, nothing grows.
6. View of the city from the top of Bald Mountain. We didn’t dare to go by car to the very top, loose soil due to soil erosion and a very steep slope.
7. In recent years, a large-scale reconstruction of the copper smelter has been carried out, and treatment facilities are being built. The ecological situation in the city has improved, for example, you can see new trees growing on the mountainside. But in general, the state of affairs cannot be called normal.
8. In the production of copper from copper ore, a large amount of harmful substances are formed, mainly gases, such as, for example, derivatives of lead, sulfur, arsenic and, in fact, copper.
9. All these gases were emitted during the period of operation of the plants practically unhindered and emissions from them were not cleaned. As a result, the total weight of emissions for the full period of operation of the plants amounted to more than 14 million tons.
11. After processing the rock, thousands of tons of sludge remain. It is dumped near the factory. As a result, such heaps are formed.
12. And this is what a normal forest looks like.
13. The ore contains less than 1% copper. Thus, to get one ton of copper, you need to process 100 tons of rock.
14. The biggest danger to the environment is acid rain.
15. Copper in the rock is contained in the form of sulfides, when roasted, sulfur dioxide SO2 is obtained. Sulfurous acid H2SO3 is formed in the atmosphere, which falls as rain in the surrounding area.
16. Heaps of processed rock over 50 meters high.
17. With the constant fallout of acid rain, all vegetation dies. As soon as the vegetation dies, the rain with the wind very quickly wash away the earth. Mountains turn into rocks.
18. The main part of the city looks like a village. Residents have many genetic and acquired diseases: cancerous tumors, eczema, kidney stones, intrauterine developmental defects, dementia, cerebral palsy.
19. Pay attention to the bald spots in the forests. The birch trees withstood the acid rain, but all the vegetation under them died. Looks terrible.
20. At the end of 1989, due to the crisis situation in the ecology of the city (the ecology is deteriorating so much that the vegetation in the city is dying out), the old metallurgical production was stopped. A fifth of the city's population was left without work. The social situation of the city is undergoing a deep crisis at this time. The population of the city decreased to 15 thousand people.
21. In 1998, copper smelting was launched again due to the aggravation of the socio-economic situation.
This is how they live here. Better, of course, than 20 years ago, but still nothing good.
Details on the environmental situation on the city's website.
More than a billion inhabitants of the dirtiest cities in the world are suffering from the consequences of progress on a once green and clean planet. Acid rains, mutations of living organisms, extinction of biological species - all this, unfortunately, has become a reality.
Please note: in this article we have collected the dirtiest cities on Earth, and you can get acquainted with the rating of the most polluted cities in Russia in a separate article. However, the world rating compiled by the Blacksmith Institute still includes two Russian cities. So, here is the TOP 10 dirtiest cities in the world.
10th place - Sumgayit, Azerbaijan
The ecology of this city with a population of 285,000 was seriously affected in Soviet times, when, in the pursuit of production volumes, concern for nature receded into the background. Once a major center of the chemical industry, Sumgayit still suffers from the "legacy" of that era. Dried land, toxic precipitation and high levels of heavy metals in the atmosphere make some areas of the city and its environs look like the scenery for some kind of Hollywood post-apocalyptic action movie. Although, as "green" activists note, over the past couple of years, the environmental situation in Sumgayit has improved significantly. 
9th place - Kabwe, Zambia
In 1902, deposits of lead were found in the vicinity of Kabwe. For residents of the city, the entire 20th century passed under the auspices of the mining and smelting of this metal. Uncontrolled production has led to a huge amount of hazardous waste entering the biosphere. All mining operations in Kabwe were closed 20 years ago, but the consequences continue to haunt innocent residents. For example, in 2006, in the blood of Kabwi children, lead and cadmium levels were found to be 10 times higher than normal. 
8th place - Chernobyl, Ukraine
Despite the fact that more than 30 years have passed since one of the worst nuclear disasters in history, the city is still considered uninhabitable. However, from the point of view we are accustomed to, it can be considered very clean: no garbage, no car exhaust; however, Chernobyl's air contains over a dozen radioactive elements, including cesium-137 and strontium-90. A person who has been in this zone for a long time without proper protection is at risk of getting leukemia. 
7th place - Agbogbloshi, Ghana
One of the largest dumps of household appliances in the world is located here. About 215,000 tons of end-of-life electronics arrive in Ghana each year, producing approximately 129,000 tons of environmentally hazardous waste, primarily lead. According to disappointing forecasts, by 2020 the volume of pollution of Agbogbloshie will double. 
6th place - Dzerzhinsk, Russia
As a legacy from the Soviet Union, Dzerzhinsk inherited colossal complexes of the chemical industry, which in the period from 1930 to 1998 "fertilized" the local soil with about 300 thousand tons of toxic waste. According to analyzes carried out here in 2007, the content of dioxins and phenol in local water bodies is several thousand times higher than the norm. The average lifespan of Dzerzhinsk residents is 42 years (men) and 47 years (women). 
5th place - Norilsk, Russia
Since its founding in 1935, Norilsk has been known as one of the world leaders in the heavy industry. According to the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), every year 1,000 tons of copper and nickel oxides, as well as about 2 million tons of sulfur oxide, are released into the air over the city. The average life expectancy of Norilsk residents is 10 years lower than in the country. 
4th place - La Oroya, Peru
A small town in the foothills of the Andes repeated the fate of many settlements, on the territory of which deposits of metals were discovered. For decades, copper, zinc and lead have been mined here, without caring about the state of the environment. Infant mortality is higher here than anywhere else in Peru, and indeed in South America. 
3rd place - Sukinda, India
It is not the first time that cities in India get into the "dirty" rating, but soon, as a rule, they leave it, for example, the Indian city of Vapi, which used to be located on the next line with Sukinda, said goodbye to the list in 2013. Alas, it is too early for the residents of Sukinda to celebrate the victory over pollution: 60% of local water contains a deadly dose of hexavalent chromium. Analyzes have shown that almost two thirds of all diseases of the city dwellers are caused by an increased content of chromium in the blood. 
