Bangladesh’s Booming Leather Industry Called a Public Health Menace

The rapidly growing leather tannery industry in Bangladesh is exposing most of its workforce to poisonous chemicals and dumping untold amounts of toxic waste into public waterways, according to a report by Agence France-Presse (AFP). In the Dhaka district of Hazaribag, which is home to hundreds of tanneries, more than 22,000 cubic liters of waste is dumped into the Buriganga River, a critical water supply for area residents, government officials say. And more than 90 percent of tannery workers suffer from some illness — from asthmas to cancer — as a result of exposure to chemicals used to convert raw hide into leather for shoes and other products, according to a 2008 survey. “We get no training, no safety equipment — workers have to learn to be careful of the chemicals,” one worker told AFP. Local environmental advocates say the government tolerates such practices because of the increasing amount of money the tanneries attract to the poverty-stricken region. In Bangladesh, leather is the fastest-growing export, with more than $460 million in merchandise shipped in 2009, most of which is produced in Hazaribag’s tanneries.