About this Atlas
Mapping the World's Toxic Hotspots
Since 2019 Material Research has worked with many of the world's leading journalists and environmental health and social justice organizations. Our collaborations have increased common understanding about the origins of toxic pollution and inequity.
At launch on January 1, 2023, the Material Research Atlas of Toxic Manufacturing identified 465 factories that we have investigated. By October 2023, the Atlas identifies over 600 facilities.. All information presented is open access and was compiled to facilitate work by communities, journalists, environmental justice groups, politicians or any world citizen who wants to use their right to be informed about the chemical hazards and toxic chemicals produced close to their homes or anywhere.
Site information includes links to related reports and articles published by our partners. We will add hundreds of factories to the Atlas in the coming months.
For U.S. factories, links are provided to EPA toxic chemical (TRI) reports and greenhouse gas (GHG) reports. Links are also provided to Centers for Disease Control's social vulnerability data for communities around the petrochemical plants.
The Atlas was built on ArcGIS by Material Research associate researcher Selena Sillari, with the expert assistance of Gordon Longsworth
Director, Geographic Information Systems Laboratory at College of the Atlantic, Bar Harbor, ME.
This is an experimental endeavor related to a more expansive data system under development with partner organizations to be launched in 2023.
About us
Material Research, L3C, is a low profit open-access data company based in Southwest Harbor, Maine, US, that works with researchers, advisors and analysts in different parts of the world.
Our mission is to gather and deliver information that serves journalists, communities, researchers and campaigners worldwide in pursuit of environmental justice and human rights.
Learn more about our team.
Check out our new blog, The Material Witness, here: https://materialwitness.substack.com/
Finding Patterns
Material Research analysis provides the foundation for groundbreaking reporting.
Connecting the Dots
Through supply chain research we find intersections of toxic production and social injustice worldwide.
