Dzerzhinsk, Russia

With an average life expectancy of just over 40 years old, Dzerzhinsk has gained a despicable renown as one of the most heavily polluted cities in the entire world. For over 70 years, this near cesspit was subject to the dumping of 300,000 tons of chemical waste, including some of the most dangerous neurotoxins in existence. Dioxin is effectively a highly toxic organic pollutant which, in 2007, infected some drinking water in Dzerzhinsk to such a degree that levels were found to be 17 million times above the safe limit. With landfills leaking toxic waste into nearby water supplies and a birth rate less than half the death rate in 2003, Dzerzhinsk is an abominable wasteland where, simply put, you don’t go.