TOXIC SITES IDENTIFICATION PROGRAM (TSIP)
Update: Feb. 2020: API Tool Released To Broaden Access To Global Database Of Toxic Sites
The Toxic Site Identification Program (TSIP) endeavors to identify and screen contaminated sites in low- and middle-income countries where public health is at risk. The TSIP is not intended to be a comprehensive inventory of such sites, but rather is an effort to begin to understand the scope of the problem.
To date, TSIP has identified nearly 5000 toxic sites in over 50 countries. These sites alone represent a potential health risk to more than 80 million poor people. However, these 5,000 sites likely represent a small fraction of the overall total. By way of example, over the past twenty years, the United States Environmental Protection Agency (U.S. EPA) has identified tens of thousands of sites in the US alone that require remediation, and its National Priorities List for urgent remediation currently contains more than 1,300 sites. [1] Analysis of the data and trends in the TSIP database indicates that as many as 200 million people may be affected.
In order to carry out site assessments, Pure Earth utilizes a network of national experts in each country to visit and document hazardous waste sites. These national investigators, often from the environment or health departments at a national university, are trained to identify and assess contaminated sites using a rapid assessment tool called the Initial Site Screening (ISS) protocol. Government representatives also attend the training. The ISS identifies major elements of a contaminated site, including estimated population at risk, key pollutant information, human exposure pathway data and sampling data. As part of the training, a field visit is made by the group to demonstrate the methodology for assessing the human health impact of toxic sites. Since 2012, GAHP has held training workshops in fourteen countries and trained over 400 investigators and 90 government representatives worldwide on how to identify and assess toxic sites.
The Blacksmith Index ranks the severity of the site using a logarithmic scale. See these publications for detailed methodology.
TSIP Initial Site Screening Protocol Handbook (2019)
A Simplified Risk-Ranking System for Prioritizing Toxic Pollution Sites in Low-and Middle-Income Countries Annals Of Global Health (2014): 278-285. Caravanos, Jack, et al.
Hazardous waste sites in the developing world: the Toxic Sites Identification Program Environ Monit Assess. 2013 Feb;185(2):1755-66. doi: 10.1007/s10661-012-2665-2. Epub 2012 May 17. Ericson B1, Caravanos J, Chatham-Stephens K, Landrigan P, Fuller R.
Read all about the Toxic Site Identification Program in Azerbaijan
In The News
Inside the Movement to Clean Up the World’s Most Toxic Sites
Scroll below for a regularly updated list of TSIP projects
TSIP Regional Training- Donetsk, Ukraine
February 1-3, 2009
Investigators present: 4
TSIP Regional Training- Changsha, China
April 11-13, 2009
Investigators present: 9
TSIP Regional Training- New Delhi, India
April 19-21, 2009
Investigators present: 11
TSIP Regional Training- Panama City,
Panama May 24-26, 2009
Investigators present: 9
TSIP Regional Training- Jakarta, Indonesia
June 11-13, 2009
Investigators present: 9
TSIP Regional Training- Nairobi, Kenya
June 11-13, 2009
Investigators present: 9
TSIP Regional Training- Johannesburg, South Africa
June 18-20, 2009
Investigators present: 4
TSIP Regional Training- Buenos Aires, Argentina
June 25-26, 2009
Investigators present: 9
TSIP Training Dhaka, Bangladesh
July 14-15, 2009
Investigators present: 4
TSIP Regional Training- Lima, Peru
September 3-5, 2009
Investigators present: 10
TSIP Training Los Banos, Philippines
October 4-6, 2009
Investigators present: 9
TSIP Training Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
October 15-17, 2009
Investigators present: 10
Investigators present: 4
TSIP Regional Training- Dodowa, Ghana
March 22-24, 2010
Investigators present: 13
TSIP Regional Training- Senegal, Nigeria
August 9-11, 2010
Investigators present: 5
TSIP Training Phnom Penh, Cambodia
August 14-16, 2010
Investigators present: 4
TSIP Training Mexico City, Mexico
February 21-22, 2012
Investigators present: 12
Government personnel present: 2
TSIP Training- Buenos Aires, Argentina
February 28-29, 2012
Investigators present: 7
Government personnel present: 4
TSIP Training Baku, Azerbaijan
March 1-2, 2012
Investigators present: 8
Government personnel present: 15
TSIP Training Yerevan, Armenia
March 6-7, 2012
Investigators present: 6
Government personnel present: 13
TSIP Training Montevideo, Uruguay
March 7-9, 2012
Investigators present: 5
Government personnel present: 4
March 14-15, 2012
Investigators present: 10
Government personnel present: 7
March 22-23, 2012
Investigators present: 18
Government personnel present: 2
March 28-29, 2012
Investigators present: 10
Government personnel present: 14
TSIP Training Dushanbe, Tajikistan
March 30-31, 2012
Investigators present: 6
Government personnel present: 4
TSIP Training Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
April 7-8, 2012
Investigators present: 5
Government personnel present: 6
TSIP Training Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
April 26-27, 2012
Investigators present: 17
Government personnel present: 2
May 2-3, 2012
Investigators present: 15
Government personnel present: 1
TSIP Training Astana, Kazakhstan
June 12-13, 2012
Investigators present: 6
Government personnel present: 2
TSIP Training Vladivostok, Russia
July 23, 2012
Investigators present: 4
August 1-2, 2012
Investigators present: 7
Government personnel present: 16
February 19-20, 2013
Investigators present: 15
Government personnel present: 12
June 18-20, 2013
Investigators present: 4
Government personnel present: 4
TSIP Training Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
July 3-4, 2013
Investigators present: 8
Government personnel present: 9
TSIP Training Baku, Azerbaijan
March 1-2, 2014
Investigators present: 8
Government personnel present: 15
TSIP Training Yerevan, Armenia
March 6-7, 2014
Investigators present: 6
Government personnel present: 13
TSIP Training Antananarivo, Madagascar
March 25-27, 2014
Investigators present: 7
Government personnel present: 5
TSIP Training Dushanbe, Tajikistan
March 30-31, 2014
Investigators present: 6
Government personnel present: 4
TSIP Training Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan
April 7-8, 2014
Investigators present: 5
Government personnel present: 6
September 12-13, 2016
Investigators present: 5
Government personnel present: 11
TSIP Training Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
September 15-16, 2016
Investigators present: 4
Government personnel present: 7
TSIP Training New Delhi, India
September 21, 2016
Investigators present: 22
TSIP Training Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
October 13-14, 2016
Investigators present: 6
Government personnel present: 12
TSIP Training Dhaka, Bangladesh
October 19, 2016
Investigators present: 6
Government personnel present: 12
TSIP Training Dakar, Senegal
November 29-30, 2016
Investigators present: 4
TSIP Training Bogota, Colombia
December 5-6, 2016
Investigators present: 11
Government personnel present: 22
January 19-20, 2017
Investigators present: 3
Government personnel present: 9
TSIP Training Guido Condarco, Bolivia
January 19-20, 2017
Investigators present: 4
Government personnel present: 11
TSIP Training Salvador, State of Bahia, Brazil
March 20-21 2017
Investigators present: 10
TSIP Training Quezon City, Philippines
March 29, 2017
Investigators present: 7
Government personnel present: 27
TSIP Training Hanoi, Vietnam
April 5, 2017
Investigators present: 8
Government personnel present: 21
TSIP Training Vadodara, India
August 17-18, 2017
Investigators present: 3
TSIP Training Iloilo, Philippines
August 30-31, 2017
Investigators present: 28
Government personnel present: 44
TSIP Training Kingston, Jamaica
October 18-19, 2017
Investigators present: 7
Government personnel present: 6
TSIP Training Bogota, Colombia
February 28- March 1, 2018
Investigators present: 5
TSIP Training Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
March 7-8 2018
Investigators present: 3
Government personnel present: 11
August 26 and 27, 2019
Investigators present: 40 from 9 states of NE Brazil and from the government
TSIP Training Colombia
January 2020 On January 23, 2020
Investigators present: 2
