Twenty-six percent of Mexico’s schools are located less than five kilometers from a contaminated site, more than double the average of 16 other low- and middle-income countries. This is the main conclusion regarding Mexico from a new analysis by the Center for Global Development, a research institute focused on reducing poverty. The study was prepared using public data from various national educational institutions and the Toxic Sites Identification Program (TSIP), a global database of sites contaminated with toxic chemicals created by the organization Pure Earth. According to other studies, living or studying within five kilometers of a contaminated area can affect cognitive development and academic performance.
In total, the analysis uses data from 2.5 million schools across 17 countries, including Argentina, Bangladesh, Brazil, Cambodia, Colombia, Kenya, Peru, and Mexico. It also includes an interactive map that allows users to explore which schools are affected, where they are located, and how close they are to contaminated sites. Although comparisons are difficult due to the different datasets used in each country, Mexico ranks among the highest. Armenia leads with 65% of schools located within five kilometers of a contaminated site, followed by Mongolia (58%). Ghana and Mexico are tied for third place at 26%.
For the Mexico analysis, Lee Crawfurd, the lead author, used information from the Ministry of Public Education for the year 2025, which compiles data from 270,000 schools across the country. “Mexico does not have poor data collection,” Crawfurd explained in a telephone interview. He noted that, together with the TSIP database, they used contaminated locations identified in the Pollutant Release and Transfer Register, a public environmental database of emissions and hazardous waste.
“In addition to the 26% of schools located within five kilometers of contaminated sites, there is also 5% that are located within one kilometer,” he pointed out. He clarified that these distances were not chosen at random, “but because there is evidence that children perform worse on exams when these facilities are located within those ranges.”
In Mexico, more than 13,000 schools are located within a one-kilometer radius of a contaminated site, an area referred to as the “direct soil contamination zone.” The Center for Global Development’s analysis explains that this represents a critical risk for children, who are exposed to direct contamination. Another 57,000 schools are located within a five-kilometer radius, known as the “dispersion zone,” where pollutants reach schools through wind, factory smokestacks, and other sources.
In both cases, the report states, the same effects on child development are observed. For example, high exposure to heavy metals such as mercury, arsenic, or cadmium is associated with a loss of cognitive ability ranging from one to seven IQ points. Regarding lead, the study cites a 2022 report titled Toxic Recycling: The Cost of Used Lead-Acid Battery Processing in Mexico, which found that students living within three kilometers of 26 authorized recycling plants scored lower in mathematics and language tests compared to a control group attending schools without such contamination.
“We have been working for years on issues related to exposure to pollutants, and we have seen that it is a major problem, with many studies showing a connection between lead levels and educational outcomes,” Crawfurd explained. “What we are trying to do here is bring these data into something more specific and concrete, so that we can identify exactly which schools are located near contaminated sites and make the issue more tangible for those affected,” he concluded.
Source: elpais
