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 latter is often ignored. But the fact is, pollution destroys economies, triggering an endless cycle of poverty.

Here is a vivid example of how this happens:

Under normal circumstances, in a population of 100 million, if average IQ is 100, there are 6 million gifted people (IQ above 130) who can be expected to drive the economy forward, and 6 million cognitively impaired (IQ below 70) who will likely depend on social or government welfare.

If the average IQ in that population is driven down 5 points to 95 as a consequence of widespread exposure to lead, the number of gifted individuals falls by more than half to 2.4 million, while the number of cognitively disabled persons rises to 9.4 million.  This decimates the future leadership of entire countries and further increases disparities between rich and poor nations.

It is a little ironic but the growing worldwide focus on global warming issues and the environment has, in a way, made the problem of toxic pollution more widespread.  All the increased scrutiny on industry has given rise to a sad legacy in many developing countries — legacy pollution, which refers to pollution left behind when a factory is closed or abandoned, or if the polluter has gone bankrupt.  At many of these “orphaned” sites, the pollution…and the population remain.  Here, people are routinely exposed to levels of toxins simply unacceptable in the West.

So what’s the lesson? Toxic pollution does more than just cripple and kill.  It traps and engulfs.

RUSSIA: Saving Children and the Russian Desman Too

Vladimir Kuznetsov began working with Blacksmith six years ago in Rudnaya Pristan, a town in the Russian Far East that was considered one of the top ten worst polluted places in the world. Toxic lead from an old smelter had contaminated almost everything in the town -- the food, the air, the ground.

"The need for cleanup was overwhelming and we could not do it all at once.  So we decided to focus first on children and we began going from school to school."

Today, Vladimir continues managing the cleanup of kindergartens, playgrounds, sandboxes, football fields, beaches, school yards, camps and other areas used by children.  And the results are clear to see.  Time magazine reported that the Blacksmith project, conducted with the help of Petr Sharov of the Far Eastern Environmental Health Fund, had "sharply reduced lead contamination at little cost."

"This is why I do the work I do...to bring direct benefit to people,"  says Vladimir, who is a proud father of a four year-old girl. "We saved hundreds of children from the risk of lead poisoning.  It is a good feeling."

Vladimir, who once managed a campaign to save the Russian Desman, a small, semi-aquatic mammal, is passionate about conservation and the environment.  As Blacksmith's coordinator for the Russian region, his job includes looking for polluted sites, assessing them, and working with local champions to get things done. He admits that it is sometimes a challenge just to get residents to see the problem. 

"I remember that the staff of a local hospital saying to us: "Lead poisoning?  Nothing serious!  We sometimes operate on people with AIDS without gloves!"

Vladimir continues, "here, socio-economic problems are still the priority and almost nobody worries about environmental issues, even though the WHO (World Health Organization) estimates that about 500,000 people die in Russia annually because of environmental reasons."

Vladmimir is doing his part to raise awareness about the issue.  "This is my motherland and I wish it prosperity and health."

(Source Blacksmith Institute)