POLLUTION BLOG

[caption id="attachment_31418" align="aligncenter" width="2560"] Victoria Condori y France Cabanillas de Pure Earth en la ceremonia de inauguración[/caption] El pasado 24 de julio, se inauguró la planta de extracción de oro limpio de Victoria Condori, concesionaria minera formal y miembro activa...

On July 24, Pure Earth Peru, Solidaridad, CINCIA, and the Wyss Academy signed an inter-institutional collaboration agreement to establish a technical support group that will strengthen the Madre de Dios Women in Artisanal and Small-Scale Gold Mining (MAPE) Network. The...

El pasado 24 de julio Pure Earth Perú, Solidaridad, CINCIA  y Wyss Academy firmaron un acuerdo de colaboración interinstitucional para establecer un grupo técnico de apoyo que fortalezca a la Red de Mujeres MAPE de Madre de Dios. La Red...

La Minería Artesanal y de Pequeña Escala (MAPE) de oro sigue siendo una fuente vital de ingresos para más de 300,000 personas en Colombia, particularmente en zonas rurales. Sin embargo, esta actividad también representa uno de los mayores desafíos ambientales...

CREA, una plataforma innovadora para transformar la tradición en oportunidad Pure Earth México anuncia con entusiasmo que ha sido seleccionada como una de las organizaciones ganadoras del Segundo llamado del Fondo Regional de ONU Mujeres 2024 para América Latina y...

CREA: An innovative platform transforming tradition into opportunity Pure Earth Mexico is proud to announce that it has been selected as one of the winning organizations of the Second Call of the UN Women Regional Fund 2024 for Latin America...

Con gran entusiasmo, Pure Earth México celebró su exitosa participación en el Bazar Cultural Diplomático 2025, organizado por la Asociación de Cónyuges de Diplomáticos A.C., el pasado miércoles 14 de mayo en la Ciudad de México. Esta edición contó con...

La reciente presentación del proyecto de ley por parte de la Agencia Nacional de Minería (ANM) que busca penalizar toda la cadena del mercurio en Colombia marca un hito significativo en la protección de la salud humana y del ambiente....

The Australian Embassy in Mexico, led by Her Excellency Ambassador Rachel Moseley, made an official visit to the communities of San Felipe Cuapexco, Cohuecan, and Acteopan, Puebla, to witness firsthand the results of the program “Circle of Women Made of...

In 2021, Pure Earth worked with one of the leading universities in Indonesia to recruit young graduates for the Toxic Sites Identification Program (TSIP), which trains pollution investigators around the world to identify, assess and document contaminated sites in their...

Take a look at what’s in your kitchen right now. Research has shown that a wide array of products, from baby food to spices, tuna and frozen pizzas, even those from well-known brands and organic labels, contain toxic heavy metals...

Each October, the World Health Organization (WHO) puts the focus on toxic lead during International Lead Poisoning and Prevention Week (ILPPW). This year, Pure Earth offices around the world participated in the global campaign by organizing a series of events...

Amazing things can happen when we work together as a global alliance.  The agenda for the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) that was just adopted, entitled "Transforming our World: The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development," reflects input from our multi-year campaign to ensure that...

I am happy to announce that we are one step closer to cleaning up the Marilao, Meycauyan and Obando (MMO) river system in the Philippines, one of the world's worst polluted rivers, with a projected $50 million grant from the...

In 2020, Pure Earth investigators helped to unravel the mystery of widespread lead poisoning in Georgian children. They traced the problem to contaminated spices found during home investigations. The source of the poisoning was lead chromate, a dye that was...

The Pure Earth Mexico team and friends at the launch of Barrio Con Barro. Intern Yanet Garcia is second from right. Recently, I had the opportunity to represent my home, New York, in a place that has long held great...

  “From today, I declare that I am taking cognizance of this issue and we shall frame projects so that we can drive the eradication of lead exposures as soon as possible.” -- Ahmed Shamim Al Razi, Ministry of Environment,...

This post was originally published in USAID's Urban Links.   Larah Ibañez was preparing a report on childhood lead poisoning for the government of the Philippines earlier this year when she discovered that the country’s Expanded National Nutrition Survey (ENNS),...

A woman walks along the coast in Senegal, one of the five pilot countries of the ChemObs project, including Kenya, Tanzania, Gabon, and Ethiopia. Among the top ten countries with the highest rates of death attributed to pollution, six of...

About 25 tons of exposed toxic material was cleared away from this site located near a school and many homes in Ujar, Azerbaijan. This report is from Rovshan Abbasov from Pure Earth Azerbaijan. ---- Many people call pollution a slow-moving...

In a new report, think tank Rethink Priorities acknowledges Pure Earth as the "largest organization working on lead exposure," and recommends Pure Earth as a leading organization with effective solutions. The Global Lead Exposure Report from researchers David Bernard and...

        Pure Earth toxic site investigators at a gold mining site in Colombia. When Pure Earth investigators visited a gold ore processing plant in the Colombian town of Remedios, they found dangerous levels of mercury in the...

The March 2021 issue of The Lancet Planetary Health journal includes an important paper that supports Pure Earth’s previous publications asserting the extent of the childhood lead poisoning crisis in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). The paper, Blood lead levels...

A newly released government investigative report on baby foods has revealed dangerous levels of toxic heavy metals, including lead, mercury, arsenic and cadmium. It was issued on February 4, 2021, by the U.S. Congress (Subcommittee on Economic and Consumer Policy,...

A socially-distanced workshop in lead-free techniques with artisanal potters in Mexico. At Pure Earth, we've defined 2020-2030 as the decade of delivering pollution solutions. Guided by CEO Richard Fuller and our new President and COO Mark Schnellbaecher, we've put together...

A new study from  Dr. Philip Landrigan and our friends at Boston College links widespread pollution of our oceans to a multitude of diseases, increasing susceptibility to COVID-19 and future pandemics, contamination of seafood we all consume, and more. In...

Along with local partners, Pure Earth started the reforestation of more than 3.5 hectares of rainforest in the Peruvian Amazon in 2017 and 2018. Another 2.5 hectares was restored in 2020. This report is from Pure Earth's Charles Espinosa. Miners...

  [caption id="attachment_16490" align="alignnone" width="768"] Gordon Binkhorst, Pure Earth's Senior Technical Advisor, uses a hand held XRF (X-ray fluorescence) analyzer to test the level of toxic pollutants in the ground in this neighborhood in Kabwe, Zambia. Almost every single child...

Futura Deity earrings from the 2020 Pure Earth Pure Gold responsibly-sourced jewelry collection and auction to fight pollution "As sustainable fashion becomes a necessity, designers and organizations dedicated to conservation are joining forces. In the past, Pure Earth has made...

Mexico: A family of artisan potters, who are part of our Barro Aprobado lead-free program The COVID-19 pandemic has hit many of the poor communities we work with especially hard.  In Mexico, for example, the potters we trained to use...

  This year, mothers in Kathgora, Bangladesh, have a big reason to celebrate--they know that their children are healthier today than they were a year ago. That's because their children’s blood lead levels (BLL) have been almost cut in half...

We know how critical PPE (personal protective equipment) is from our toxic pollution cleanup work around the world. Pure Earth team members often wear a combination of N95 masks, hazmat suits, gloves, and other protection out in the field when...

In response to the covid-19 pandemic, Pure Earth's "Quarantine" Q&A webinar series has been offering insights and analysis from our extensive network of colleagues and friends in public health around the world. It is one way we are sharing our...

The global coronavirus pandemic has made one thing clear -- we are a global family. No matter where you live, we all call this planet home. We will get through this together. Until we can gather again in person, please...

Greetings from New York, where we are entering our second week of social distancing, and now a statewide lockdown. We closely followed news of covid-19 as it spread through Asia, Europe, and now the U.S., and we are experiencing the...

Pure Earth kicked off its important global community outreach project on February 19th in Colombia, covered by the country’s premier news station, generating excitement at all levels, from the Ministry of Health to local NGOs working with indigenous people. "The...

Pure Earth President Richard Fuller (left) with Dr. Jack Caravanos, Pure Earth's head of research and co-author of the new global health textbook. Do not be saddened by stories of polluted places or diseased communities. Rather, let it motivate you...

Over the past 20 years, Pure Earth has addressed toxic pollution in over 120 project locations through assessment, remediation, risk mitigation and more.  See our approach for details.  These projects have impacted approximately 5 million people - 20% of those...

Pure Earth's Daniel Estrada testing the yard of a home in Mexico for the presence of toxic lead. What is the true scope of lead poisoning in Mexico? For the first time, we have a clearer picture, thanks to a...

This year, we asked some of our most ardent supporters---including Bobbie Lloyd, chief baking officer of the world famous Magnolia Bakery, and designer Ammar Belal---to tell us why they give to Pure Earth. Watch their video testimonies below. Thank you...

Pure Earth's Global Mercury Program works around the world to eliminate mercury use and clean up contaminated sites to reduce mercury poisoning and protect the health of communities, especially children. Since artisanal and small-scale (ASGM) gold mining is responsible for...

In May 2018, Pure Earth held a lead-free workshop for nine potters in Maragogipinho, Brazil. This was an important first step in helping a community, where some residents had blood lead levels as much as 15 times above the EPA’s level...

For years, parents in Malambo, Colombia, didn't know that their children were sleeping on poison. Surrounded by five lead smelters, Malambo was heavily contaminated with lead. Over the years, lead had polluted the ground, settled on almost every surface in...

The Pure Earth team in Bangladesh. When we returned to the small village of Kathgora, Bangladesh, just months after our remediation work, we found to our delight that the impact was already measurable in the healthier children we saw. Before...

This summer, Pure Earth's head of research, Dr. Jack Caravanos, visited Ukraine with his students from NYU's College of Public Health. In addition to Chernobyl, probably the best-known polluted site in the country, the group also visited Radikal, an abandoned...

Updated: Feb. 2020: The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation has selected Pure Earth’s proposal to solve Madagascar’s pollution crisis as a Top 100 in its 100&Change competition. Project co-leads on the proposal are Indiana University and the University...

Volunteers in Quezon City (Photos courtesy of Daj Dajotoy, HSBC) This post is by Pure Earth intern Matthew Chakwin, who is studying Global Health at Georgetown University. August 2019--This June, over 130 volunteers from HSBC's water programme in the Philippines...

Pure Earth pollution experts from around the world recently gathered in New York to share updates on the progress being made solving pollution problems in their home communities and in countries spread out over five continents. The event, held at...

In Tajikistan, in an area near the Afghan border lined with checkpoints and guards with guns, a Pure Earth team conducting pesticide cleanups was showered with hospitality. They were welcomed in home after home and were even invited to a...

Lead Poisoning Study: 300 mothers and their newborns In 2015, Pure Earth worked with the National Institute of Public Health (INSP) in Mexico on the first-ever effort to detect and measure exposure to lead poisoning at a state level in...

During Earth Week, Pure Earth mobilized hundreds of people around the world for a series of pollution cleanup events and a special news-making photo exhibition and presentation. These events were all part of Pure Earth Day, our inaugural global effort to bring...

Pure Earth/CINCIA rainforest reforestation team in Peru. In South America, alluvial gold mining is degrading the Amazon basin at an unprecedented rate, leaving barren craters in previously lush rainforest. Pure Earth is working on a rainforest reforestation project to restore...

This post is from Pure Earth development associate Erin Andrews. This is an important year for Pure Earth. It marks 20 years of leading the charge in fighting pollution - 20 years of saving lives, particularly the lives of children in...

In 2017, more than 30 models got on a bus and headed to the People’s Climate March in Washington, D.C. It was one of their first forays as the Model Mafia, a powerful collective of activist models brought together by Cameron Russell and Áine...

At the 63rd session of the Commission on the Status of Women, which took place on March 12, 2019 at the United Nations Headquarters in New York, Pure Earth joined with participants from around the world to discuss a variety...

It was a day to remember. The celebration in the public town square of Karmalichak, a community in Patna, in the state of Bihar, India, was not only fun, but potentially life-changing. Organized by our local partner, the Institute of...

This photo (above) is heart breaking for me. The young girl in pink is chronically exposed to extremely high levels of lead because families in her village have been recycling and smelting lead and other metals for decades. Not only...

If you think you and your family are not impacted by pollution far from your home, think again. Pollution Knows No Borders, Pure Earth’s latest report, documents how the pollution crisis in low- and middle-income countries affects everyone’s health – including...

As the first Christian country worldwide, Armenia is known for it’s beautiful, historic churches. Not only are they tourist attractions, they also serve as community centers for baptisms, weddings, barbecues, class trips and more. When Pure Earth, working together with...

Alejandro celebrated his 13th birthday recently with a new mattress, but what he received was a potential lifetime of safe and sound sleep. He is one of about 50 children living near a lead smelter in Malambo, Colombia, who we found...

There are many different ways to use the web besides a mouse and a pair of eyes. Users navigate for example with a keyboard only or with their voice. All the functionality, including menus, links and forms should work using...

This April, under the searing sun, over 200 volunteers from HSBC Philippines and the local community showed up to help Pure Earth take action against river pollution. Together, the group planted over 100 Camachileand and Talisay trees along the shoreline of Laguna Lake,...

When Pure Earth visited Maragogipinho, a village in the town of Aratuípe in Brazil, in 2017 as part of the Toxic Sites Identification Program (TSIP), the team found lead concentrations in the soil as high as 44,500 ppm (the EPA level...

https://youtu.be/V6IxvUExAlQ Pure Earth's toxic site investigators can be found the world over. Their mission? To walk the earth in order to find, map and assess polluted sites in low and middle-income countries, where residents are being poisoned where they live. The...

This post is by Charlie Espinosa, Pure Earth intern for Latin America. A 2014 study conducted by Universidad Naciónal de Colombia revealed high lead levels in all students attending La Bonga Elementary School. Located in Malambo, Colombia, the school sits in...

Pure Earth President Richard Fuller, an Aussie based in New York, was recently recognized with the prestigious Order of Australia Medal for his service to conservation and the environment. “...my hope is that this recognition brings more attention to the global...

A standing ovation. That is what Gina McCarthy, former US EPA administrator, received at the Pure Earth benefit on Earth Day in New York City. McCarthy was a special guest at the benefit focused on "Pollution Solutions," showcasing the cleanup...

U.S. audiences might know actress and model Taliana Vargas from her key role in season three of Netflix's Narcos.  But away from the spotlight, Vargas is a philanthropist at heart. In Colombia, Vargas is using her star power to help...

Watch a video of the project above, or click here. This post is from Charles Espinosa, an intern working with our Latin America program team. Charlie is pursuing a master's degree in Latin American studies at Columbia University, with a...

[caption id="attachment_4283" align="aligncenter" width="500"] Children in Indonesia play on lead smelting dump site in the middle of their village.[/caption] An important new paper from Dr. Bruce Lanphear, a member of the Pure Earth Leadership Council, and a Commissioner on The Lancet Commission on...

[caption id="attachment_6163" align="aligncenter" width="640"] From left to right: Tofik Azizov, Ministry of Agriculture; Petr Sharov, Pure Earth; Technical Advisor Nicholas Albergo; Rovshan Abbasov, Pure Earth; Khatuna Akhalaya, Project Consultant.[/caption] If you asked any authority on pollution about Azerbaijan, the name...

  (Read the story in Spanish on the Barro Aprobado site) Recently, a team representing a group of ten artisans from Michoacán in Mexico traveled to New York to show their lead-free pottery at NY Now, one of the largest trades...

[caption id="attachment_6052" align="aligncenter" width="1000"] Pure Earth President Richard Fuller captures the attention of decision-makers gathered at Davos.[/caption] Pure Earth President Richard Fuller was at the World Economic Forum in Davos last week talking about one of the most effective ways...

  [caption id="attachment_6036" align="aligncenter" width="640"] The World Bank event was filled to capacity.[/caption] Pollution is one global crisis that can be solved, but it will take commitment, cooperation, and funding.  That was the takeaway from a January 11th discussion in Washington, D.C....

HSBC has launched a unique "Adopt A Potter" program in support of Pure Earth's work to reduce lead poisoning from the widespread use of traditional leaded pottery in Mexico. Under the program, corporate volunteers visit artisans who have gone lead-free...

Congratulations Doña Rosario! The talented potter, who is part of the Pure Earth Barro Aprobado program, was awarded 1st place in the national ceramic prize competition that aims to promote the preservation of the traditional techniques and designs of Mexican pottery....

Thank you Dev! Academy Award nominee Dev Patel has selected Pure Earth as his charity of choice for the Mandarin Oriental’s global “He’s a Fan/She’s a Fan” campaign. The hotel group will donate $10,000 to support our work in some...

The new report from The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health, published on Oct. 19, pinpoints pollution as the cause of 1 in 6 deaths worldwide, with children and the poor being the most vulnerable. We cannot afford the health and economic impacts. ...

Earlier this year, Pure Earth launched an ambitious project in Peru, supported by Brilliant Earth, a global leader in ethically sourced fine jewelry.  The goal: to transform the Chichiqueros artisanal gold mining community into a mercury-free model.  The Chichiqueros work in an area...

  This post is from Indira Zhakipova, Pure Earth's coordinator in Kyrgyzstan The village of Naiman is inhabited by 1,800 people, and is located in the Nookat district of the Osh region of Kyrgyzstan, 70 km from the regional center...

Photo by Sumaiya Ahmed, Creative Commons https://www.flickr.com/photos/snippets/1120575294/ The recent Hurricanes (Harvey in Texas, Irma in Florida and the Caribbean) with their extensive floods have raised questions of pollution and other chemical contamination. This is an important public health issue that...

There are over 200 lakes in the Absheron Peninsular in Azerbaijan, located near the capital of Baku. For years, industrial and household wastewater has been dumped into these waters--an estimated 41.5 million cubic meters annually! This includes discharges from many of...

Remember Mrs. Mungun? She was the "gold ninja" who learned to go mercury-free at a Pure Earth training workshop so she could provide a better life for her two children. We met Mrs. Mungun again recently and we're delighted to report that she's...

Update: A Pure Earth team is currently at COP1, joining representatives from around the globe who have come together to help make mercury history. Our team is attending daily sessions as well as meetings to discuss guidance on the management...

This post comes from Rovshan Abbasov, Pure Earth’s country coordinator in Azerbaijan. Rovshan shares his story about pollution in Azerbaijan, and a childhood caught between clean and polluted. (WATCH VIDEO BELOW) Dr. Rovshan Abbasov, Pure Earth's coordinator in Azerbaijan, holding a tomato...

  This post is from Andrew McCartor, Pure Earth's Regional Director for South Asia. A procession on the streets of Bihar, India. Finding and confirming pollution can be difficult because polluters don't advertise their activities, and many toxic pollutants are invisible and...

  Earlier this year, Pure Earth launched an ambitious project supported by Brilliant Earth, a global leader in ethically sourced fine jewelry.  The goal: to transform the Chichiqueros artisanal gold mining community into a mercury-free model.  The Chichiqueros work in an area in...

  What is it like to be a pollution fighter for Pure Earth? We followed Lara Crampe (above), Pure Earth's Regional Director for Southeast Asia, during a recent week-long trip to the Philippines, where she met with local partners, visited...

Umed and the Pure Earth remediation team in Tajikistan In the past year, Pure Earth's team in Tajikistan has been measuring vast regions, where dozens of decrepit pesticide warehouses from the Soviet era have been leaking into the surrounding soil and water. When...

Mother and child in Senegal We see them all the time when we work in polluted hotspots where, really, no one should be living. We see them going about their daily, often back-breaking work, many times with children in tow. These...

Pure Earth regional director for Africa, Judith St. Fort, and senior program officer, Russell Dowling, recently returned to Senegal to help train local toxic site investigators as part of the Toxic Sites Identification Program (TSIP). Judith and Russell brought with them dozens...

Thank you to all you "headbangers," "lead singers" and "groupies," and everyone who had a "front row seat" or "backstage pass" at our Heavy Metal Benefit Bash. You came, you dined, learned more about toxic heavy metals, and some of you...

Mercury-free gold is in Vogue! In Why Mercury-Free Gold Is the Future of Sustainable Jewelry, Vogue magazine reported on Pure Earth's collaboration with superstar model Molly Bair, and 21 leading designers to curate a special collection of jewelry crafted using recycled, Fairtrade, or...

"Women are usually in charge of the family's health but are often excluded from training and other opportunities," says Budi Susilorini, Pure Earth's country director for Indonesia. Budi was recently invited to take part in a discussion organized by NGO BaliFokus...

Testing a playground for toxins in Zambia. For more than a decade now, Pure Earth has been training and sending investigators out across the world's worst polluted places to identify, assess and map contaminated sites that pose a health risk to...

Pollution is one global problem that can be solved. We have solutions. #WeCanFightPollution. Here are some highlights of our work around the world over the past 12 months. Thanks to our supporters, we are making an impact. AFRICA Toxic-free homes for...

  This post comes to you from Alfonso Rodríguez, Pure Earth's new country director in Colombia.  The Pure Earth team at a toxic site visit in Colombia: (l to r) Daniel Estrada, Alfonso Rodríguez, John Keith Pure Earth has expanded its Toxic...

After a quick lesson at Pure Earth's office, Molly shows off her skills with the XRF--a handheld X-ray fluorescent analyzer that can identify toxic particles in soil in about 30 seconds! #FightPollution with Molly Bair When you see model Molly...

This post comes from Alena Temnikova, Pure Earth's regional coordinator in Kyrgyzstan.  The red wall of the building is made from lead-contaminated sand taken from the mine tailings. When lead and zinc ore mining began in the 1950s, the first workers lived...

Pure Earth's country director in Indonesia, Budi Susilorini, recently spent a month in the New York office, meeting with colleagues, exchanging ideas and sharing experiences. We caught up with her to learn more about what motivates her.  Budi is a key...

[caption id="attachment_4960" align="aligncenter" width="879"] A view of the district of Laberinto from the Inambari River. Over years of constant shifting, the river has transformed the area into a complicated landscape.[/caption] Located about an hour from the city of Puerto Maldonado,...

Help us make a difference in Agbogbloshie and other polluted places. Donate now to support the cleanup of polluted communities worldwide. “Kona Ne Bad” or “Burning Is Bad” – that was the message splashed across tee-shirts and posters, and shouted out through...

This post is from Pure Earth summer intern Taylor Carroll (pictured above), an environmental studies major in her senior year at Lehigh University. Recently, over 1,000 delegates from all over the world met at the United Nations headquarters in New York...

This post is from Pure Earth summer intern Taylor Carroll, an environmental studies major in her senior year at Lehigh University. Some may be surprised to hear that the Environmental Protection Agency is primarily a public health agency, but EPA...

[caption id="" align="alignleft" width="203"] Dr. Amalia Laborde[/caption] [caption id="" align="alignleft" width="109"] Dr. Lilian Corra[/caption] The World Health Organization (WHO) has just released a new series of children's environmental health training modules that were prepared by experts around the world, including...

Fighting pollution does not just mean cleaning up toxic sites.  It also involves a lot of behind-the-scenes work that might not make the news, such as the painstaking task of identifying, mapping, and assessing contaminated hotspots around the world. This was what...

Dirty Talk With A View  For our latest Dirty Talk (Pure Earth's awareness-raising lunchtime series), we brought experts to the New York Times building to talk about pollution in Latin America. The event attracted a full house and boasted some of the best...

This post is from Pure Earth summer intern Sarah Baer, a youth philanthropy leader in her junior year at the University of Pennsylvania. In the remote reaches of Mongolia, Pure Earth’s project team has put together a teaching van to educate miners on...

The Pure Earth family is sad to learn of the sudden death of Dmitriy Tereshkevich, our country director in Kazakhstan. He was just 33. His passing is a shock and a tremendous loss to everyone at Pure Earth worldwide, and to the...

The Pure Earth program and management team recently concluded a three-day retreat at a donated vacation home in coastal Maine. There was much to plan as Pure Earth received a new grant and a renewal from a previous funder. In addition, our...

This is Mrs. Mungun (not her real name), a single mother with two children living in Central Mongolia.  When times got tough for her, she became a "gold ninja" to feed her children. About 20% of the rural Mongolian workforce are "gold...

Meet Filipino gold miners Leoncio Na-Oy (pictured below, right) and Rudy Onos. Over the past few years, Pure Earth has been working with Leoncio and Rudy to test and teach a century-old, traditional method of mercury-free gold mining Leoncio rediscovered in his...

[caption id="attachment_16027" align="alignnone" width="300"] Actor Shiloh Fernandez with Caroline Dweck of Stephen Dweck.[/caption] Do you know where the gold in your jewelry comes from? Following the success of our recent Pure Earth Pure Gold Benefit Bash, we think many more people...

[caption id="attachment_16042" align="alignnone" width="300"] Photo: Larry C. Price[/caption] Do you know where the gold in your jewelry and electronics come from? About 10% to 25% of the world’s total gold supply comes from artisanal gold mining, the leading source of...

[caption id="attachment_16044" align="alignnone" width="300"] Gold fish shaped vessel from the Oxus Treasure by Nickmard Khoey, CC, via Flickr[/caption] How is the jewelry you wear and the iPhone you use connected with contaminated fish you may find on your plate? The...

The latest WHO report released this week --  Preventing disease through healthy environments: a global assessment of the burden of disease from environmental risks” -- is key in helping the world understand that the leading global public health threat has shifted...

Over the past year, we have started to finally see a shift connecting the silos that have kept efforts on the environment, health and development in separate disciplines. The catalyst for much of this progress has come from the creation...

This man is "cooking" lead by the side of a busy road. This is a fairly common scene in Hajipur, home to many of the 40 informal and unregulated recyclers of used lead-acid batteries (ULAB) in Bihar, India. In this densely...

What does Flint, Michigan, and Kabwe, Zambia, have in common?  The answer is lead poisoning. Recently, NPR's Goats and Soda program spoke with Pure Earth President Richard Fuller to get his take on the lead-contaminated water supply in Flint and how...

[caption id="attachment_16047" align="alignnone" width="300"] Photo by Alex Proimos (Lake Titicaca) [CC BY 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons[/caption] A milestone has been reached in the long struggle to clean up the famed Lake Titicaca. Bolivia and Peru have agreed to provide more than...

Of the many cleanups we conducted in 2015, our work in Kabwe, Zambia, was one of the highlights. Last year, thanks to private donations from supporters, Pure Earth’s team was able to return to Kabwe to start cleaning up one of the “World’s...

AN URGENT CALL IN THE NIGHT Earlier this year, Sandra Gualtero, Pure Earth's regional director for Latin America and the Caribbean, received a late-night email labelled “URGENT.” It was from a nurse in Mexico who had just discovered a newborn baby with...

[caption id="attachment_3829" align="alignnone" width="559"] The man with Joe Hayes in Chowa[/caption] Joe Hayes, a hydrogeologist from the US, is a volunteer member of Pure Earth’s technical advisory board. Joe just returned from Kabwe, Zambia where he is helping to manage the...

“I am impressed with what has been done... and this comes as a relief not only to the people of Chowa, but the entire Kabwe population. We believe that when this project is completed, more lives will be safeguarded."  --...

Almost every single child in Chowa is suffering from lead poisoning. Nearly all of Chowa's children were found to have blood lead levels that are ten to 20 times the CDC recommended level, which can be fatal. The source of the toxin?  A group...

[Read a version of this story in Spanish.] At this year's Festival Internacional Cervantino, one of the most important arts and cultural events in Latin America, a dinner designed to showcase the culinary culture of Morelos state became a milestone in the fight against...

On Oct 1, a panel of world leaders and key experts in the fields of pollution management, environmental health and sustainable development gathered in Geneva to launch the Global Commission on Pollution, Health and Development. Like the Stern Review, which brought...

A new report - The New Top Six Toxic Threats: A Priority List For Remediation - has been released by Pure Earth and Green Cross Switzerland. It is the tenth report in the World's Worst Pollution Problems series that over the years has served...

The best way to help communities clean up toxic sites is to advise and encourage, say Andrew McCartor, Bret Ericson and Sandra Gualtero. In the September issue of TCE magazine (The Chemical Engineer), the three Pure Earth program directors wrote about their...

This post is from one of our resourceful communications summer interns Alex Rivlin, who spotted this story and realized the connection to the work we do. How polluted does water have to be to become flammable? Bellandur Lake is just...

Gold miners are revered here... This statue, which takes pride of place in the center of a gold mining town in Peru, speaks volumes about the relationship between gold and many locals. Artisanal and small-scale gold mining is a traditional...

  “… while most everyone has heard about “going green,” few are aware of the more dire and sinister “brown” pollution — places where man-made toxic pollutants have taken root and spread.” - from "The Brown Agenda," by Richard Fuller...

[caption id="attachment_16120" align="alignnone" width="300"] Instant Noodles by kattebelletje[/caption] Earlier this month, there was a lead poisoning scare involving a brand of instant noodles manufactured in India. The company promptly pulled the product and samples were sent to the Maharashtra Food...

While much of the conversation about the Pope's encyclical has been about climate change, a quick look reveals that pollution is a big part of that equation. And he spotlights some of the key issues of the problem, including how pollution...

Read the story on Medium. In Manado, at the picturesque tip of North Sulewesi in remote Indonesia, local artisanal gold miners may have found, in their backyards, the key to reducing mercury emissions.  Across Indonesia, you can see roofs of houses...

Read the story on Medium. This summer, when families return to stake out their spot in the sun along the coast of the Caspian sea in Sumgayit, Azerbaijan, there will be one crucial difference. The beach will no longer be toxic, and...

 "At the hospital, he looked fine but behaved like he was losing his mind... In the evening of the same day, his fever became severe. He was restless. He later started jerking seriously with his eyes turning, and that was how...

Calling all researchers. Are you looking to improve your skills in writing papers for peer-reviewed scientific journals? Do you have a draft of a scientific paper you are preparing for publication? Are you a citizen of, and is your research related...

Mexico's 500-year old tradition of using toxic lead-glazes in pottery is a problem that continues to plague residents to this day. In our paper "Blood Lead Levels in Mexico and Pediatric Burden of Disease Implications,” published in the Annals of Global...

Usher, No Doubt, Mary J. Blige, Fall Out Boy, Common, Train, My Morning Jacket and others rallied an estimated 250,000 people on the National Mall in Washington, D.C. on April 18 in a day-long Earth Day concert organized by the...

  What did we do in 2014? We are glad to report that it was a great year of progress in the fight against toxic pollution. Here's why: Out In The Global Field - Asia, Africa, Central Asia/Eastern Europe, Latin...

  Over the past few years, Blacksmith Institute for a Pure Earth has embarked on a broad effort to expand research and understanding about the issue of toxic pollution, especially its damaging impact in low and middle-income countries, where pollution is the...

[caption id="attachment_16171" align="alignnone" width="225"] Richard Fuller, Blacksmith Institute for a Pure Earth President with a Mexican potter[/caption] Our effort to expand research and understanding about toxic pollution continues this month with three papers published in the prestigious Annals of Global Health, formerly...

In India, Pure Earth has been working closely with local officials, industry and other stakeholders on the widely-documented problem of toxic pollution in the country.  In fact the government is planning on prioritizing the top ten worst polluted sites in the country for cleanup,...

Beyond Akhtala, the site of our very first cleanup project in Armenia (read more in Armenia's Toxic 10th-Century Monastery), our team came across various other polluted sites including a school, which apparently had been used as an informal dumping ground by a...

The latest issue of Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report (MMWR), the main resource for key public health information and recommendations from the CDC, features field notes from our July trip to Kabwe, where we found devastating levels of lead poisoning...

  When an airliner disappears into the Indian ocean and hundreds of people are assumed dead, it’s huge news and millions are spent to find it and understand what went wrong. But in Zamfara, Nigeria, in 2010, over 200 children...

[caption id="attachment_3044" align="alignnone" width="640"] The media turned out in force to help us launch "Barro Aprobado" and spread awareness about lead-free pottery in Mexico.[/caption] Across Mexico every day, millions of meals served in homes and restaurants come with an extra,...

http://youtu.be/PBGDERL3t4o Every day, trucks full of used lead-acid batteries from cars, motorbikes and other vehicles are brought in from across Vietnam to the rural village of Dong Mai in the agricultural heartland of Vietnam. Dong Mai is one of thousands of toxic "craft"...

[caption id="attachment_16187" align="alignnone" width="300"] This soccer field used to be highly contaminated with toxic lead. Children were being poisoned everyday.[/caption] In Cinangka, Indonesia, a playground near the primary school was so toxic that parts of the field had lead levels...

Up to 20% of Mexicans have elevated blood level levels. This is from the use of traditional Mexican pottery---the colorful plates, pots and other wares that you see in almost every home and restaurant in the country. Traditional Mexican pottery has been...

[caption id="attachment_20195" align="alignnone" width="650"] Seynabou and her grandson in November 2021.[/caption] Seynabou had ten children, but lost five of them.  One by one, each of her five youngest children fell ill with the same symptoms — seizures and convulsions. One by one,...

[caption id="attachment_15288" align="alignnone" width="300"] Dev Patel with Freida Pinto at the inaugural PURE EARTH benefit gala in NYC on April 26, 2014.[/caption] Happy Birthday Dev Patel! Just three days after Patel's 24th birthday on April 23, the young actor/activist helped...

What does a Pure Earth look like to you? This is what it looks like to Susan Sarandon, Anne Hathaway, Yoko Ono, Faith Ringgold and our other friends and supporters. PURE EARTH extends our deepest appreciation to the artists and celebrities...

It is a small but powerful tool.  The handheld XRF (X-ray fluorescence) analyzer can identify toxic particles in soil in about 30 seconds, allowing remediation crews to quickly locate and determine the extent of any contamination, and potentially begin life-saving cleanup without...

This week’s post comes from Andrew McCartor, Blacksmith’s program director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, who was recently in Mongolia.   There is no preparing for the Mongolian winter. When I stepped onto the tarmac in the capital city...

This report is from Conrad Meyer, chair of Blacksmith's board of directors, who is currently in India with Blacksmith. Last week, we traveled to India to meet with the senior management of Gravita, an environmentally friendly recycler of used lead...

This week's post comes from Andrew McCartor, Blacksmith’s program director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia, who is currently in Tajikistan. The small, mountainous country of Tajikistan is a former Soviet republic that borders Afghanistan to the south and China...

Over 40% of the world's stockpiles of obsolete pesticides, around 200,000 tons, are estimated to be still present in the former Soviet Union Republics including Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Kyrgyzstan, Georgia, Moldova and Russian Federation. Blacksmith has been invited to join...

Livelihood Training For Women Uncovering Senegal's Invisible Pollution Problem Last year, Blacksmith returned to Senegal to conduct livelihood training for women so that they will not have to go back to the deadly job of backyard battery recycling in order...

Filipino Miners in Bolivia Roadmap For Cleanup More Pilot Projects on the Way Blacksmith brought Filipino gold miners to Latin America in 2013 to test and teach the Benguet method, (sometimes known as the "borax method") to artisanal miners in Bolivia. If successful,...

Stopping A Ticking Time Bomb In The Ukraine Keeping Radiation Out of Schools In Kyrgyzstan Groundbreaking Work In Armenia Blacksmith identified and assessed 128 contaminated sites in the region, bringing the total number of polluted communities documented in Eastern Europe and...

Prioritizing Sites For Cleanup in India Engaging the Chinese Public Vietnam's Toxic Craft Villages Exciting things are happening in India. Blacksmith's data on over 400 polluted sites has been integrated into a larger list commissioned by the government. This is the...

Increased Focus on Research Training Local Researchers Research Grants Journal of Health and Pollution Expands This year saw the release of a number of key reports, including: A roadmap for pollution cleanup across Latin America The Poisoned Poor, a paper that spells out, for the first...

A new report provides a roadmap that can be used to accelerate pollution cleanup in Latin America.  With input from experts from seven Latin American countries (Argentina, Brazil, Chile, Colombia, Mexico, Peru, Uruguay) and the U.S., the report examines environmental...

The conversation about pollution just got louder. Since 2006, Blacksmith’s yearly reports have been instrumental in increasing public understanding of the health impacts posed by toxic pollution, and in some cases, have compelled cleanup work at pollution hotspots. This latest...

A new report released this November updates the top ten list of world's worst polluted places previously identified in 2006 and 2007, removing sites that have made progress, and adding new sites. "Top Ten Toxic Threats in 2013: Cleanup, Progress and Ongoing Challenges" from...

Next month, Blacksmith returns to Senegal to provide livelihood training to women so that they will not have to go back to the dangerous job of backyard battery recycling--the activity that triggered the tragic lead poisoning outbreak in 2008 that killed 32 children in Thiaroye...

How do we begin to solve life-threatening problems facing the world's poisoned poor? Some of the world's leading voices came together for a seminar in Brussels this October to discuss the issue. The Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAHP) joined...

Who does toxic pollution affect the most? A global alliance has come together to issue the first comprehensive report of pollution's impact on this invisible demographic -- the poisoned poor. "The world’s poorest people routinely face the highest risk of exposure to hazardous chemicals due to their occupations,...

In 1991, the daughter of the U.S. ambassador to Mexico was found to have high lead levels in her blood. It launched an outcry on both sides of the border against the use of toxic lead glazes in Mexican pottery,...

The Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAHP) has released a technical guide focused on the containment of lead, one of the world's worst pollutants. It is the first in a planned series of guides on best practices in global...

China is currently facing a wave of dissatisfaction over the state of pollution in the country with calls for greater transparency. A new Blacksmith project might just have a solution. This report is from Abby Schultz in Blacksmith’s China office: --- The...

Pollution is finally getting official attention in Indonesia July, 2013 You know that a government is getting serious about something when there are official workshops and conferences. We are glad to report that last month, the Indonesian Ministry of Environment...

Farmer Youtian He's wife and daughter near their polluted rice fields.  Mrs. He and other relatives are suffering from cancer. He worries about his young daughter. The bright green rice fields planted close to the brick-and-tile homes in Shangba, a...

If you read our earlier post on India's Amazing Pollution Story, you will know that great things are happening in that country. Plans are in the works to clean up ten of the country's worst polluted sites, which Blacksmith helped...

Pure Earth's global team, consisting of experts from around the world, gathered in New York in early April (2013) to discuss remediation work in their home countries, share ideas and plan future projects. Updated Sept 2016 to reflect name change...

Welcome to Blacksmith’s Newsletter Archives. Sept/Oct 2013: Top Ten Toxic Threats in 2013 Helping Countries Abide by Minamata Bringing Poisoned Poor to the European Parliament Training Women in Senegal Why are Children in Mexico Still Suffering from Lead Global Remediation...

Rice Paddies are the cradle of life in many countries.  But some have become conduits of death and disease because of industrial pollution. A famous case of rice padi poisoning was documented in Toyama prefecture in Japan in the 1960s....

One of the most interesting outcomes of this U.S. election is that it has reminded us that data is king. Nate Silver from the New York Time's FiveThirtyEight blog has become a celebrity of sorts for coming up with data that...

Retailers figured it out a long time ago. They could improve business if they made shopping easier. So they began to offer consumers everything they might need under one roof. Hence the success and popularity of one-stop shops. In a...

When Andrew Blackwell was researching his new book Visit Sunny Chernobyl, he contacted us to learn a little more about our work and about Blacksmith's list of world's worst polluted places. Turns out he was visiting some of these very same hotspots....

[caption id="attachment_14699" align="alignnone" width="300"] Child gold miners in Tanzania. Credit: Madeline Cottingham and Evan Simon.[/caption] Recently, a young environmentalist, who had done some work for Blacksmith, returned from Tanzania with some fascinating photographs and stories to share. Madeline and her...

Children at the site of the world's worst outbreak of lead poisoning in Nigeria The CDC recently lowered the recommended limit for lead exposure in young children from 10 micrograms of lead per deciliter of blood, to 5. This means...

Kids barefoot on a toxic field in Indonesia Recently, John Keith, Blacksmith's globe-trotting expert, led an armchair tour of Asia's toxic hotspots for a group in NYC.  An environmental engineer, John has worked on numerous projects in 72 countries and counting,...

This July, we are returning to the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center in Italy to convene a third meeting of world leaders and experts on pollution, this time to create a global alliance to deal with legacy pollution at scale. Our...

This week's blog post is from Andrew McCartor, Blacksmith's regional program director for Eastern Europe and Central Asia: Blacksmith was recently approached for help to raise awareness about the massive toxic pollution caused by an active lead smelter in the...

[caption id="attachment_15339" align="alignnone" width="213"] Kids in La Oroya[/caption] The embattled Doe Run lead smelting facility in Peru may finally be getting a break. We met with Dr. Juan Carlos Huyhua, the president of Doe Run Peru, in New York last...

When people talk of tackling pollution, they usually mean stopping pollution. But what if the pollution has already been halted, in some cases decades ago?  For example at numerous former Cold War weapons manufacturing sites? [caption id="attachment_15343" align="alignnone" width="300"] Ghana's...

We were recently criticized by an industry group of leather manufacturers for listing tannery operations #5 on the 2011 list of world's worst toxic pollution problems. The group called our report’s assertions “sensationalist and not appropriate." (Read our response in...

Contrary to popular belief, large multinational corporations are NOT the worst pollution problems.  That was one of the more interesting findings revealed in our 2011 World's Worst Toxic Pollution Problems report. [caption id="attachment_15346" align="alignnone" width="150"] La-Oroya-3-Anna[/caption] Of course large corporations...

Dr. B. Sengupta recently sat down with Sarita Gupta to talk about India's growing toxic waste problem - by his count, India generates over 8 million tons of toxic waste every year but only has the capacity to deal with...

[caption id="attachment_15422" align="alignnone" width="300"] Russian President Dmitry Medvedev meets with NGOs in Moscow about the country's pollution crisis, June 8, 2011.[/caption] Petr Sharov, Blacksmith's Russia and Central Asia coordinator, attended a meeting with President Dmitry Medvedev at the Kremlin in...

My last post pointed to new studies that indicate chronic mercury exposure in the U.S. has risen dramatically. In fact, mercury is identified as one of the Top Six Toxic Threats in Blacksmith Institute's most recent report, which draws on...

  Our last blog post about Chernobyl generated a lot of interest among our friends, but seemed to raise more questions than it answered.  Many people asked for more basic information about radiation and more comparisons between Chernobyl and Japan,...

Finally the drumbeat is getting louder on the issue of environmental toxins and I say it is about time. Last month, NYT's Nicholas Kristof wrote an op-ed on the link between autism (and other diseases) and environmental toxins.  Now, Time...

"God's Paradise Will be Removed from World's Worst Polluted Places" “Declared Green Zone at God's Paradise – Happiness Where There Was Once Contamination.” “Park Provides Health at God's Paradise” These local headlines tell the story. Twelve days ago, Paraíso de...

Did you see Nicholas Kristof's op-ed in yesterday's New York Times on the link between autism (and other diseases like cancers) and environmental toxins?  Kristof points to concern about American's using plastic containers to microwave food, and using products with...

I am glad to report that the Rockefeller Foundation has invited us back to the Bellagio Center in Italy this September to reconvene the next international meeting about the Health and Pollution Fund (HPF) - the planned $500 million public...

An interesting new perspective has opened up on the dangers of pollution.  While most people know that pollution poisons, it now seems that the immune system is especially affected by contaminants.  Pollution appears to skew the body away from making...

Does pollution plague a country because it is poor? Or does pollution make a country poor? While the case for the former can be easily made -- poorer nations have less resources for cleanup and regulations; the case for the...

Just returned from Mexico with Blacksmith's globe-trotting program officer Bret Ericson (who's also the task manager for our global inventory project).  For me, Mexico always brings to mind wonderful, colorful pottery, perhaps because there is a such a strong ceramics...

It's been a good start to the year for us on the funding side. We just received confirmation that we will be getting a $900,000 infusion to complete work on our Global Inventory Project, which is about one-third done (see...

Amalgam of mercury and gold I first blogged about the toxic connection between gold and mercury back in December in my post All That Glitters, when the price of gold reached a record high.  Back then, we asked you to...

When Dr. Philip J. Landrigan was asked what he thought was the most important thing people can do to save the planet, his answer was "protect children from toxic environments." Pollutants, especially lead and pesticides, have been the focus of...

For the next two weeks, the eyes of the world will be on Copenhagen, where leaders of some 200 countries have gathered to try to find some kind of consensus on tackling the problem of climate change. "Unless the world can...

Over the past year, Bret Ericson has been  traveling the world helping to compile a unique list -- the first ever global inventory of polluted places "Currently, a worldwide list of sites where pollution is acutely affecting human health does...

young gold miner in Indonesia. Photo from borneomercury.com The price of gold hit a record high today, reaching $1,216.75 an ounce in Europe. What does this have to do with pollution? Well, in this age of globalization, everything is connected...

Jakarta - we are so fortunate to have Budi Susilorini working for us there.  She's our eyes, ears and hands on the ground for our cleanup work in Indonesia.  We're about to kick off a project targeting lead poisoning on...

Blacksmith is working to avert a catastrophe on the scale of Bhopal or Chernobyl at the old Gorlovka chemical plant in the Ukraine. Recently, I've been working to avert a catastrophe at the Gorlovka chemical plant  in the Ukraine, which...

David Hanrahan, Blacksmith's director of global operations, described it best when he called them "12 pinpricks of light" - these are the 12 cases of cleanup and success we found around the world. I was surprised and a little shocked...

Jack Caravanos has cut his way through jungles in Panama, climbed mountains in Peru, dodged cobras in India, and waded through murky rivers in the Dominican Republic, all to get a sample of contaminated soil, air or water.  He has fallen and...

One more thing... today we released our latest Blacksmith report on the World's Worst Polluted Places.  This time, we focused on successes, which are few and far between.  We had a good turnout - half a dozen reporters, from most...

Well, its good to be back home, after two weeks of travel.  Then add on a week of H1N1 flu.  Seems that those signs you see posted in Asian airports are right after all - its out there, and its...