World's most toxic places revealed: Indonesian gold mines and old Russian chemical manufacturing regions are among the most dangerous areas on earth

Horrifying list compiled by environmental body The Blacksmith Institute

Sites include mines, factories, landfills and the Chernobyl nuclear plant

The top ten alone put more than 200 million people in danger every day



Dressed in drab red jumpers, two children climb to the top of a rubbish heap a dozen times taller than them.

The shocking scene is typical of Buenos Aires' Matanza-Riachuelo river basin, one of the ten most polluted places in the world.

A list of ten filthy sites, from Russia to Indonesia to Ghana, has been amassed by the global environmental group The Blacksmith Institute - which says 200 million people are endangered daily in the top ten places alone.

1: Matanza-Riachuelo River Basin, Buenos Aires. It is just 37 miles long but its banks are packed with 15,000 industries spewing chemicals like zinc, lead, copper, nickel and chromium into the filthy water Filthy: Some parts of the river basin look normal, but 60% of its homes are deemed unfit for human habitation. Residents suffer diarrhoea, breathing difficulties and cancer as there are few sources of safe drinking water Some governments are working to make life better but in others, the damage has already been done.

On the list is the former Soviet nuclear plant Chernobyl, which suffered a massive meltdown in 1986 in what is widely known as the worst nuclear disaster in history.

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Next Local residents to get say on applications for wind farms in... EXCLUSIVE: 'Radioactive Boy Scout' who sparked panic in 1996... Share this article Share Others, though, few people have heard of. Deep in the wastes of Siberia is the industrial city of Norislk. Founded by Stalin in 1935 to provide forced labour for the gulags, it was for decades the largest heavy metals mine in the world. It has leaked millions of tons of copper oxide, nickel oxide and sulphur dioxide into the atmosphere, causing lung diseases and cancers of the digestive tract. The report - which says six of the sites are new to the list since it was last compiled in 2006 - said symptoms of people suffering from pollution include organ damage, diahrroea, eye damage, vomiting, lung diseases, cancers and premature birth.

2: Norilsk, Siberia. Once the largest heavy metals smelting complex in the world, Stalin built it and forced gulag prisoners to work there. Life expectancy for factory workers is 10 years below the Russian average Smog: High levels of copper and nickel have been found in the soil 'nearly everywhere' within 40 miles of Norilsk, Russia, where 130,000 people live. Children get sick one and a half times more often than those nearby Ominous: Norilsk, Russia, pictured in 1993. Two million tons of sulphur dioxide pour into the air every year

The lack of good medical care in poorer countries means they are particularly vulnerable - explaining, in part, why many of the worst places are in what was traditionally called the Third World.

The report said: 'The shortage of adequate resources in many low-and middle-income countries increases the severity of health impacts from toxic pollution while simultaneously marginalizing those who need help the most.

'An objective of the work of Blacksmith Institute and Green Cross Switzerland and one goal of this report is to enhance understanding and funding for this crucial area of public health.'



3: Citarum River Basin, Indonesia. Some nine million people live along its banks and it provides 80% of Jakarta's drinking water - but scientists have found lead at more than 1,000 times the recommended level