Re-viewing pollution: A tale of two basins

The Mekong and Ganges-Brahmaputra river basins are an important life force for millions of people across South and Southeast Asia. Yet growing levels of pollution from diverse sources are transforming these important waterscapes into reservoirs of toxicity. Holistic studies of pollution in these systems remains a critical gap. This largely stems from the siloed nature of ‘pollutant’ research, which often focuses on either place-based quantitative analysis of targeted pollutants or the social or environmental impacts of particular pollutants and industries. We present an integrated synthesis of the causes, types and impacts of pollutants with these two critical river basins, with a call to widen the lens of pollution research. We draw from a review of over 100 studies from the physical and social sciences that cover pollution in these two river basins. We show that, while the sources of pollution are well documented, there are key limitations in how pollution is conceptualised and defined. Specifically, a lack of integrated research means that the importance of interrelated processes that are intensifying pollution and its unequal effects can be overlooked. Instead, we view these river basins as “waterscapes” which can help to expose complex relationships between pollutants, and socio-political, economic and environmental contexts. Key to these particular basins are unequal processes of urbanisation, industrialisation, industrial food production, hydraulic infrastructure, and climate change that often expose the most vulnerable to heightened toxicity and risk. We see an urgent need for a broader view of pollution if we are to address this mounting challenge.