Using data collected over the past three years from thousands of toxic hotspots, the The World’s Worst Toxic Pollution Problems 2011 Report identifies the top ten toxic pollution threats, and for the first time, calculates their health impacts. Released by the Blacksmith Institute in collaboration with Green Cross Switzerland, the report reveals the most targeted picture of pollution’s toll to date. Research and documentation of this scale has never been done before, and the crucial information gathered in the report will help to prioritize life-saving cleanup efforts.

The key to the report is that it calculates the impact of pollution in terms of years of life lost and years spent in poor health, whereas much of the current research in environmental health focuses only on deaths. Because toxic pollution often leads to crippling disability that does not always result in death, many victims are left uncounted by basic mortality statistics. The sum of life years lost and years lived with disability is called a Disability-Adjusted Life Year or DALY.

The World’s Worst Toxic Pollution Problems 2011 Report is the latest in a series of annual reports documenting global pollution issues. 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. Blacksmith Institute reports have been issued jointly with Green Cross Switzerland since 2007.