Martin Boudot

The investigation begins in Iraq, in the oil fields which extend from Nahr Umar to Halfaya. Black gold is a sensitive subject, a notorious source of conflict throughout Iraq's recent history. This region is as rich as it is dangerous. We meet local people who are convinced that pollution from flares at the oil refineries is responsible for a rise in illness, including breathing difficulties and childhood cancer. The site is vital for Iraq. It supplies...

Since 2001, five million hectares of forests have been destroyed in Paraguay to make way for soybean plantations. Soy fields now surround many villages and their residents are being poisoned by pesticides. In 2014, Adela, 6 months old, and Adélaïde, 3 years old, both died within a few hours, after being exposed to pesticide spreadings. Working with scientists, the Green Warriors team investigates the genetic damage to children exposed to these pesticides....

Johannesburg is considered the most uranium-contaminated city in the world. Waste dumps from around 600 abandoned mines sit next to residential communities, blowing polluted dust into homes and contaminating the soil and water supplies. To get a sense of the sheer extent of the problem, Martin Boudot and his team of researchers investigate. Equipped with a Geiger counter, they uncover some dangerous realities...

From Peru, where the mineral is extracted, all the way to France, where the metal is refined, lead pollutes the earth, the rivers, food supplies, and local people. Despite being banned in numerous products including fuel, paints and the manufacture of pipes, lead is still often used in buildings, weapon development, jewellery and even in batteries. At Évin-Malmaison, France, lead from refineries has contaminated the earth underneath various schools,...

Over the last 50 years, our use of phosphate based fertilizers has quadrupled. These are essential to modern agriculture, used especially for growing potatoes. Most fertilizers come from Morocco, where the pollution from phosphate mines is poisoning local drinking supplies, causing birth defects in animals and health problems in children. But also present in most phosphate-based fertilizer is cadmium, a toxic heavy metal linked to kidney and bone...