Sept 12 (Reuters) - Russia and two former Soviet republics have four of the world's top 10 most polluted places, according to the Blacksmith Institute, a New York-based nonprofit group.
Blacksmith did not rank the top 10 because complete health records from some developing countries were unavailable. For each site the group included the number of potentially affected people, who could face problems ranging from asthma to premature death.
The annual list was compiled with help from specialists at Harvard University, Johns Hopkins University, Hunter College in New York, India's ITT, University of Idaho, Mt. Sinai Hospital in New York and others. The full report can be found at www.worstpolluted.com.
Below are the worst polluted places listed alphabetically.
Sumgayit, Azerbaijan
- Potentially affected people: 275,000
- Pollutants: Heavy metals, organic chemicals
- Sources: Petrochemical and industrial complexes
Linfen, China
- Potentially affected people: 3,000,000
- Pollutants: Fly-ash, volatile organic compounds, lead
- Sources: Car and industrial emissions from coal industry
Tianying, China
- Potentially affected people: 140,000
- Pollutants: Lead and heavy metals
- Sources: Mining and processing
Sukinda, India
- Potentially affected people: 2,600,000
- Pollutants: Hexavalent chromium
- Sources: Chromite mines
Vapi, India
- Potentially affected people: 71,000
- Pollutants: Chemicals and heavy metals
- Sources: Industrial estates
La Oroya, Peru
- Potentially affected people: 35,000
- Pollutants: Lead, copper, zinc
- Sources: Heavy metal mining
Dzerzhinsk, Russia
- Potentially affected people: 300,000
- Pollutants: Sarin, lead, phenols
- Sources: Cold War-era chemical weapons, manufacturing
Norilsk, Russia
- Potentially Affected People: 134,000
- Pollutants: Heavy metals, phenols
- Sources: Nickel mining
Chernobyl, Ukraine
- Potentially affected people: 5.5 million
- Pollutants: Radioactive dust including uranium, other metals
- Sources: Nuclear meltdown of reactor core in 1986
