Pure Earth

Pure Earth

Formation	1999
Type	International NGO
Location	New York City, New York
President	Richard Fuller
Website	www.pureearth.org

Pure Earth is a New York City-based international not-for-profit organization founded in 1999 that works to identify, clean up, and solve pollution problems in low- and middle-income countries, where high concentrations of toxic pollution have devastating health impacts, especially on children. These communities suffer disproportionately from pollution-related diseases. Pure Earth remains the only significant organization of its kind working to solve pollution on a global scale.

Pure Earth's work focuses on two key pollutants: lead and mercury.

The Global Lead Program works on reducing lead poisoning from three key sources poisoning millions of children in low- and middle-income countries: the unsafe and informal recycling of used lead-acid (car) batteries; lead-glazed pottery, and contaminated spices.  

The Global Mercury Program works to reduce mercury from artisanal and small scale gold mining communities around the world by training miners to go mercury free, and helping miners in the Amazon rainforest restore land damaged by mining.

Pure Earth is known for the Toxic Sites Identification Program, a global movement to find and clean up the world’s most toxic sites. The program has trained over 500 pollution investigators and 90 government representatives worldwide, who have identified and mapped over 5000 toxic hotspots in communities around the world. The data they collect has built an “unprecedented public database of toxic sites” that helps local communities and governments plan clean up to protect residents.^[1]

Pure Earth is also known for initiating the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution, which in turn led to the formation of The Lancet Commission on pollution and health and the publication of the groundbreaking report from the Lancet Commission on health and pollution which concludes that pollution is the largest environmental cause of death in the world today, killing three times more people than AIDS/HIV, tuberculosis and malaria combined, and 15 times more deaths and war and other forms of violence.

In 2015, Pure Earth helped to successfully advocate for broadening the scope of toxic pollution addressed in the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).^[2]

In 2020, Pure Earth and UNICEF issued an urgent call to protect 800 million children poisoned by lead, following the publication of their joint report: The Toxic Truth: Children’s exposure to lead pollution undermines a generation of potential. The report revealed that lead poisoning is affecting children on a massive and previously unknown scale – one in three children globally have elevated blood lead levels, and nearly half of them live in South Asia.

Pure Earth has been recognized by Charity Navigator as one of the United States' top performing nonprofits.^[3]

Pure Earth was formerly known as the Blacksmith Institute, which was recognized for a series of World's Worst Pollution Problems reports that first brought attention to the global pollution problem.[1]

In 2017, Pure Earth President Richard Fuller and Dr. Philip Landrigan, serving as co-chairs of the Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health, issued an open letter, and presided over the release of the landmark report from the Commission, which confirmed that pollution is the largest environmental cause of disease and premature death in the world today—causing 3x more deaths than HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria combined, and 15x more deaths than wars and all forms of violence.^[4]

The report's findings made headlines around the world. The Washington Post's editorial concluded that "The Lancet study should remind leaders in the United States and elsewhere that, though there are costs associated with restricting pollution, countries also incur costs by failing to do so." Fareed Zakaria issued a passionate commentary about pollution's deadly global impact.

The Lancet Commission on Pollution and Health is an initiative of The Lancet, the Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (for which Pure Earth serves as Secretariat), and the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, with additional coordination and input from United Nations Environment, United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO), and the World Bank.

Pure Earth's Toxic Site Identification Program (TSIP) works to identify and screen contaminated sites in low- and middle-income countries where public health is at risk. Pure Earth has trained more than 400 toxic sites investigators around the world to find, map and assess polluted sites that pose health risks in their communities. To date, TSIP investigators have identified more than 3,100 sites in over 50 countries. These sites alone represent a potential health risk to more than 80 million poor people.

The data collected by TSIP investigators is entered into Pure Earth's database of polluted sites, the largest database of its kind. This information is made accessible to governments so that they can formulate plans to prioritize action on pollution that poses the most risk to populations.

The public can view the data at pollution.org

In July 2012, Pure Earth convened a third meeting of world leaders^[5] and experts on pollution at the Rockefeller Foundation's Bellagio Center in Italy. The Global Alliance on Health and Pollution (GAPH) was formed that year by Pure Earth, the World Bank, UNEP, UNDP, UNIDO, Asian Development Bank, the European Commission, Ministries of Environment and Health of many low- and middle-income countries to address pollution and health at scale. Blacksmith serves as Secretariat for the GAHP. Blacksmith began coordinating an international effort to create a global alliance in 2008. The effort was formerly called the Health and Pollution Fund.^[6][7][8]

Published by Pure Earth, the Journal of Health and Pollution (JH&P) is a quarterly on-line journal of peer reviewed research and news. JH&P is grant funded by the World Bank and the European Union. There are no charges to readers or authors. JH&P aims to facilitate discussion of toxic pollution, impacts to human health and strategies for site remediation. The journal focuses on work by researchers from or about under-represented low- and middle-income countries.

• RMS Rapid Market Screenings:[2]- In 2021, Pure Earth launched an ambitious project to analyze the lead (Pb) content in thousands of products and food samples in markets across 25 low- and middle-income countries. The Rapid Market Screening (RMS) project is the first analysis of its kind that we are aware of. The RMS project follows the 2020 publication of The Toxic Truth report by Pure Earth and UNICEF, which revealed for the first time that an estimated 800 million children, or 1 in 3, have blood lead levels indicative of lead poisoning (>5 μg/dl).
• Mexico: Barro Aprobado - Research shows nearly half the children in Mexico are impacted by lead poisoning from traditional pottery glazed with lead that is used in many homes and restaurants in Mexico. The Barro Aprobado project is raising public awareness about the dangers of leaded pottery, and promoting the use and production of lead-free pottery.
• Azerbaijan: Cleanup of infamous pesticide site in Salyan.
• Zambia: Lead remediation in Kabwe, sometimes called the world's most toxic town.^[9]
• Mongolia: Training artisanal miners to go mercury free. Over 1000 miners have been trained to date.
• Ukraine – Cleanup of former Soviet arms site, filled with highly toxin chemicals and explosives, as chronicled in Bloomberg Businessweek ^[10]
• Nigeria: In 2011, Pure Earth received a Green Star Award for emergency work during the Nigeria lead poisoning crisis in Zamfara.^[11]
• Armenia: Cleanup of 10th century historical site.

In October 2022, Pure Earth’s Founder and President Richard Fuller was included in the #FuturePerfect50 list from Vox, recognizing “The scientists, thinkers, scholars, writers, and activists building a more perfect future.” ^[12]

In 2010, Pure Earth's impact was charted in a profile of its founder Richard Fuller in Time's "Power of One" column.^[13]

2015 saw the release of the book The Brown Agenda.

In 2019, Pure Earth released the report Pollution Knows No Borders: How the Pollution Crisis in Low- and Middle-Income Countries Affects Everyone’s Health, and What We Can Do to Address It.

Pure Earth was founded as the Blacksmith Institute in 1999.

In 2014, Blacksmith launched a new initiative – Blacksmith Institute for a Pure Earth – with English actor Dev Patel as celebrity ambassador.^[14] Patel worked closely with Blacksmith to suggest the new name, and will help support efforts to raise awareness about toxic pollution, an issue he says he first grew aware of after filming in India.^[15] Blacksmith will slowly transition to a new name – Pure Earth – with the aim of broadening awareness of global toxic pollution issues to the general public.

For over a decade, Pure Earth's World’s Worst Pollution Problems reports identified and drew attention to the worst, and most dangerously polluted places on the planet, while documenting and quantifying the startling health and environmental impacts of this neglected problem. The series of reports succeeded in raising global awareness about the extent and impacts of toxic pollution in low- and middle-income countries. All reports are archived at http://worstpolluted.org

• Used Lead Acid Battery (ULAB) Recycling
• Mining and Ore Processing
• Lead Smelters
• Tanneries
• Artisanal Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM)
• Industrial Dumpsites
• Industrial Estates
• Chemical Manufacturing
• Product Manufacturing
• Dye Industry

• Lead
• Radionuclides
• Mercury
• Chromium
• Pesticides
• Cadmium

^[16]

(Not ranked, listed by region.)

• Ghana, Agbogbloshie
• Senegal, Thiaroye Sur Mer
• Peru
• Uruguay, Montevideo
• Mexico, Mexico City
• Indonesia, Cinangka
• Philippines, Marilao, Meycauayan and Obando River System
• Vietnam, Dong Mai
• Former Soviet Union
• Kyrgyzstan, Mailuu-Suu
• Also China, India and Madagascar^[17]

The World's Worst Polluted Places in 2013 (unranked):

• Agbogbloshie, Ghana
• Chernobyl*, Ukraine
• Citarum River, Indonesia
• Dzerzhinsk, Russia*
• Hazaribagh Thana, Bangladesh
• Kabwe*, Zambia
• Kalimantan, Indonesia
• Matanza River, Argentina
• Niger River Delta, Nigeria
• Norilsk*, Russia

(*included in the original 2006 or 2007 lists)

• Battery recycling
• Lead smelting
• Mining and Ore processing
• Tanneries
• Industrial/Municipal Dumpsites
• Industrial estates
• Artisanal Gold mining
• Product manufacturing
• Chemical manufacturing
• Dye industry

Top Ten Worst Toxic Pollution Problems:

• Artisanal Gold Mining – Mercury
• Industrial Estates – Lead
• Agricultural Production- Pesticides
• Lead Smelting – Lead
• Tannery Operation – Chromium
• Mining and Ore Processing – Mercury
• Mining and Ore Processing – Lead
• Lead-Acid Battery Recycling – Lead
• Naturally Occurring Arsenic in Ground Water – Arsenic
• Pesticide Manufacturing and Storage – Pesticide

The report identifies and quantifies the impacts of the most damaging toxic pollutants. The Top Six Toxic Threats are:^[18]

• Lead
• Mercury
• Chromium
• Arsenic
• Pesticides
• Radionuclides

The report lists 10 programs, unranked, as examples of successful efforts to reduce the toll of pollution on human health. It also includes two initiatives with worldwide impact.^{[19][20][21][22]}

• Improving indoor air – Accra, Ghana^[20]
• Preventing mining pollution – Candelaria, Chile^[20]
• Lowering radioactivity – Chernobyl, Ukraine^[20]
• Cleaning urban air – Delhi, India^[20]
• Removing lead – Haina, Dominican Republic^[19][20]
• Recapturing mercury – Kalimantan, Indonesia^[20]
• Reducing lead – Rudnaya Pristan, Russia^[20]
• Removing DDT – Old Korogwe, Tanzania^[19][20]
• Restoring a waterway – Shanghai, China^[20]
• Removing arsenic – West Bengal, India^[20]
• Phasing out leaded gasoline – Worldwide^[19]
• Ending chemical weapons – Worldwide^[19]

• Artisanal Gold Mining
• Contaminated Surface Water
• Indoor Air Pollution
• Industrial Mining Activities
• Groundwater Contamination
• Metals Smelting and Processing
• Radioactive Waste and Uranium Mining
• Untreated Sewage
• Urban Air Quality
• Used Lead Acid Battery Recycling

As of September 2007, the Institute lists the following as the world's ten most polluted places (in alphabetical order by country):^[23]

• Sumqayit, Azerbaijan
• Linfen, China
• Tianying, China
• Sukinda, India
• Vapi, India (Update: Removed from list due to significant improvements^[24])
• La Oroya, Peru
• Dzerzhinsk, Russia
• Norilsk, Russia
• Chernobyl, Ukraine
• Kabwe, Zambia

• Godwin, Kenya
• Matanza, Argentina
• Hazaribagh Thana, Bangladesh
• DongYangHuaxi, China
• Lanzhou, China
• Urumqi, China
• Wanshan, China
• Haina, Dominican Republic
• Oriente, Ecuador
• Mahad Industrial Estate, India
• Ranipet, India
• Ust-Kamenogorsk, Kazakhstan
• Mailuu-Suu, Kyrgyzstan
• Mexico City, Mexico
• Huancavelica, Peru
• Meycauayan, Philippines
• Marilao, Philippines
• Bratsk, Russia
• Chita, Russia
• Magnitogorsk, Russia
• Rudnaya Pristan, Russia

• Official website
• World's Worst Polluted Places Reports