sustainability by invitation

The Risks of ’s Unseen Menace Exposure to polluted sites adversely affects society in multiple ways, from risking children to mental and neurological issues, to decreasing productivity and increasing healthcare costs

ven as – India, , , is making headlines , Pakistan, , Eboth domestically and and Thailand – pinpoints as internationally, awareness of the the worst pollutant. dangers of pollution seem to The study goes on to estimate disappear when the problem lies that 20% of the population in underfoot: in the thousands of these seven countries is at sites contaminated by industrial risk from lead at toxic sites, pollutants. including 200,000 children A recent pair of studies on the under the age of four who are impact of toxic contaminated exposed to lead in soil and sites in Asia has arrived at a water in sufficiently high doses Photo Courtesy: Blacksmith Institute for a Pure Earth, www.pureearth.org sobering conclusion - polluted to produce decreases in IQ. sites are a large and heretofore India accounts for about one insufficiently studied public quarter of these children – health threat, contributing to About 50,000 Indian children as much death and disease are estimated to be at risk as outdoor air pollution and of diminished intelligence. At dangerous diseases like malaria, the lower end, this means with lead being one of the worst that young Indian children pollutants threatening children. may suffer irreversible injury India figures prominently in both to their brain and nervous studies. systems with no overt signs and symptoms. At the higher What the Studies Reveal Photo Courtesy: Blacksmith Institute for a Pure Earth, www.pureearth.org end of the range, children One study estimates that in India, Indonesia and the could suffer seizures, coma, and death. Philippines alone, some 8 million people are at risk of These two studies show that the impact of polluted exposure to industrial pollution at toxic sites. Of the 373 sites could adversely affect society in multiple ways: polluted sites analyzed for this study, a majority – 221 an increasing number of children suffering from mental sites – are in India. difficulties and neurological issues, decreasing productivity Using data collected, researchers calculated the burden and earning potential of the affected population, and of disease caused by the toxic sites in the form of DALYs increasing healthcare costs required to treat the myriad (Disability Adjusted Life Years), which measure the sum of diseases related to exposure to toxic sites. of years of potential life lost due to premature mortality And this is just the tip of the iceberg. The toxic sites and the years of productive life lost due to disability. assessed in these two studies are a fraction of the They found that contaminated toxic sites contribute to as thousands of contaminated hotspots in India and much death and disease as air pollution and malaria in around the world. the three countries, even though the problem of polluted soil and water gets significantly less attention. The root of the problem Another study of toxic sites, this time across seven countries The good news is that polluted sites can be cleaned

Communiqué October 2014 | 49 sustainability

up and lives can be saved. It has already been done implemented jointly with the United Nations Industrial in many industrialized countries. But many toxic sites Development Organization. remain, especially in countries with large informal Blacksmith Institute, an international non-profit that economies. works to solve toxic pollution problems, trained over Many of the worst-polluted sites analyzed in the two 150 TSIP investigators to identify, visit and screen these studies are contaminated by small-scale artisanal toxic sites. They collected environmental samples, took sources, such as lead-acid and photographs and GPS coordinates, and interviewed artisanal gold . residents and stakeholders. Small operators work informally, often in homes and In India, the Government is working to prioritize the backyards, with little training, few precautions and often top ten worst polluted sites in the country for clean no regulation. They also do not have the resources up, building in part on Blacksmith’s data. to address any pollution issues, even if it sickens In addition, Blacksmith Institute-India, the Council on themselves and their families. Energy, Environment and Water (CEEW), and the Public A large number of toxic sites are also abandoned Health Foundation of India (PHFI) have come together (legacy) sites, such as former tanneries. Although to form the Indian Alliance on Health and Pollution. the polluting industries at these sites are no longer The Indian Alliance on Health and Pollution will raise in operation, the contaminants remain and nearby awareness about the problem of India's toxic sites communities continue to be poisoned. by documenting them, tracking the progress of any Unfortunately, clean-ups seem to happen at toxic sites remediation work done, and collecting and providing only after mass poisonings and multiple deaths draw crucial information to the public and local official through worldwide attention, such as recent events in a website and other sources. (www.IndiaHealthPollution. and Senegal. Worldwide, exposures from most toxic org will launch next year) waste sites continue unabated, and communities With awareness comes action and in India, things are continue to be poisoned. starting to happen.

The Indian Alliance on Health and Pollution This article was contributed by Promila Sharma, Program Manager, The two studies analyzed sites identified through Blacksmith Institute India and Magdalene Sim, Director of Communications, Blacksmith Institute. For more information on the the Blacksmith Institute’s Toxic Sites Identification Indian Alliance on Health and Pollution, please contact promila@ Program (TSIP), a global effort to identify waste sites, blacksmithinstitute.org

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