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Exploring the remnants of industrial progress can often lead to fascinating insights into the past.
However, some sites around the world serve as stark reminders of the environmental and health risks associated with certain industries.
Here's a look at some of the most notoriously dangerous abandoned business sites across America, which are now too perilous for public access.
Chernobyl is probably the most famous abandoned business site in the world.
In 1986, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant disaster led to the evacuation and abandonment of the city of Pripyat.
The area around the reactor remains highly radioactive, with parts of the exclusion zone indefinitely closed to the public.
Scientists say it will take 20,000 years before the area becomes fully safe, although some parts do have controlled access.
Once a thriving mining community, Centralia has been reduced to an almost ghost town due to a coal mine fire burning beneath the town since 1962.
Dangerous levels of carbon monoxide and the risk of sudden ground subsidence make it a hazardous area.
Its depth beneath the ground, an abundance of fuel and the massive cost of dealing with it are all factors over it still burns more than 60 years on.
This former mining town became one of the most toxic sites in America due to rampant lead and zinc mining, leaving behind mountains of chat (toxic mining waste).
Environmental and health risks led to a federal buyout and evacuation, rendering the town a modern ghost town.
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Once known for its blue asbestos mining, Wittenoom was shut down in 1966 due to health risks from asbestos fibers.
The site is so hazardous that it’s been removed from Australian maps and visiting is strongly discouraged due to the high risk of developing asbestos-related illnesses.
A town built by Gulag prisoners to mine coal in the far east of Russia, Kadykchan was abandoned after the collapse of the Soviet Union and a subsequent mine explosion.
With deteriorating buildings and plummeting temperatures, it’s a perilous site that underscores the region’s harsh economic realities.
Known for its uranium ore processing, Mailuu-Suu is critically contaminated with radioactive waste.
Landslides and erosion pose a significant risk of spreading contamination, making it one of Central Asia’s most dangerous ghost towns.
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