States with the Most Toxic Chemical Releases
All states ranked by total pounds of toxic chemicals released, measuring actual pollution volume from industrial sources.
What This Ranking Tells Us
Total toxic releases measure the actual volume of hazardous chemicals discharged into air, water, and land by industrial facilities. States topping this list have significant heavy industry, mining operations, or chemical manufacturing that generates large waste volumes. Release amounts include on-site air emissions, water discharges, land disposal, and underground injection. Some states have high release volumes concentrated in just a few mega-facilities, while others spread releases across many smaller operations.
This page ranks all 50 U.S. states and territories on a single indicator - total lbs - drawn directly from the EPA Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). The ranking draws on 51 state records in the current dataset, ordered descending (highest count at the top) by the underlying federal count.
The top of the table is led by Alaska with a reported value of 3.9B, followed by Nevada (1.8B) and Texas (1.1B). The bottom of the ranking ends with New Hampshire at 2.1M, illustrating the spread across the federal record.
A state's position depends on underlying geography, industrial history, population, and the density of reporting entities, not on a simple "cleaner" or "dirtier" label. Use the links in the table to open each state's full environmental profile and view county-level breakdowns, individual facility records, and violation history. Data source: EPA Toxics Release Inventory (TRI). All figures are as-filed and not weighted for toxicity or exposure.
States with the Most Toxic Chemical Releases: top 15
Ranked by total lbs - full table below
- Alaska
Alaska
3,853 million lbs
- Nevada
Nevada
1,844 million lbs
- Texas 1,089
Texas
1,089 million lbs
- Utah 1,059
Utah
1,059 million lbs
- Louisiana 690
Louisiana
690 million lbs
- Indiana 556
Indiana
556 million lbs
- Ohio 485
Ohio
485 million lbs
- Alabama 412
Alabama
412 million lbs
- Tennessee 380
Tennessee
380 million lbs
- Arizona 362
Arizona
362 million lbs
- Illinois 338
Illinois
338 million lbs
- Michigan 318
Michigan
318 million lbs
- North Carolina 284
North Carolina
284 million lbs
- Missouri 281
Missouri
281 million lbs
- Montana 277
Montana
277 million lbs
What this shows Rankings reflect reported federal totals, shaped by each state's geography, industrial history and population, not a direct measure of health risk or water safety.
| # | State | Total Lbs |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Alaska AK | 3.9B |
| 2 | Nevada NV | 1.8B |
| 3 | Texas TX | 1.1B |
| 4 | Utah UT | 1.1B |
| 5 | Louisiana LA | 690.1M |
| 6 | Indiana IN | 555.5M |
| 7 | Ohio OH | 485.0M |
| 8 | Alabama AL | 411.7M |
| 9 | Tennessee TN | 380.1M |
| 10 | Arizona AZ | 362.3M |
| 11 | Illinois IL | 337.8M |
| 12 | Michigan MI | 317.9M |
| 13 | North Carolina NC | 284.5M |
| 14 | Missouri MO | 280.5M |
| 15 | Montana MT | 276.8M |
| 16 | Mississippi MS | 269.4M |
| 17 | North Dakota ND | 263.3M |
| 18 | Pennsylvania PA | 253.6M |
| 19 | Florida FL | 247.9M |
| 20 | New Mexico NM | 239.8M |
| 21 | Georgia GA | 239.0M |
| 22 | Kentucky KY | 212.3M |
| 23 | South Carolina SC | 203.0M |
| 24 | Idaho ID | 200.0M |
| 25 | California CA | 191.8M |
| 26 | Iowa IA | 183.0M |
| 27 | Arkansas AR | 173.2M |
| 28 | Oklahoma OK | 166.2M |
| 29 | Virginia VA | 166.0M |
| 30 | Wisconsin WI | 147.9M |
| 31 | West Virginia WV | 131.3M |
| 32 | Kansas KS | 122.2M |
| 33 | Minnesota MN | 113.1M |
| 34 | Colorado CO | 112.9M |
| 35 | Oregon OR | 97.8M |
| 36 | Wyoming WY | 93.9M |
| 37 | Washington WA | 92.7M |
| 38 | Nebraska NE | 86.7M |
| 39 | New York NY | 79.9M |
| 40 | New Jersey NJ | 58.3M |
| 41 | South Dakota SD | 43.0M |
| 42 | Maine ME | 37.7M |
| 43 | Delaware DE | 34.2M |
| 44 | Maryland MD | 25.5M |
| 45 | Puerto Rico PR | 25.4M |
| 46 | Massachusetts MA | 18.3M |
| 47 | Hawaii HI | 12.9M |
| 48 | Connecticut CT | 8.9M |
| 49 | Rhode Island RI | 2.5M |
| 50 | Vermont VT | 2.1M |
| 51 | New Hampshire NH | 2.1M |
Source: EPA Toxics Release Inventory (TRI).
Frequently Asked Questions
What counts as a toxic release?
TRI tracks releases to air (stack and fugitive emissions), water (direct discharges to streams, rivers, and lakes), land (landfills, surface impoundments, and land treatment), and underground injection. Both routine operational releases and accidental spills are included in annual totals.
Are all toxic releases equally dangerous?
No. TRI tracks over 770 chemicals with vastly different toxicity levels. A pound of mercury is far more dangerous than a pound of ammonia. The total pounds metric treats all chemicals equally, which can be misleading. The EPA provides toxicity-weighted release data for more nuanced comparisons.
How has toxic release volume changed over time?
Total TRI releases have declined significantly since reporting began in 1988, dropping over 50% despite economic growth. This reflects improved pollution controls, industry shifts toward cleaner processes, and stronger environmental regulations. However, some individual chemicals and regions have seen increases.
Explore More Rankings
What to do with this ranking
Use the leaders here as a starting point, then check your own state's full record.
- Alaska tops this list at 3.9B total lbs - see its full environmental profile, not just this one metric. View Alaska
- This single indicator doesn't capture the full picture. Compare against most tri facilities for a different angle. Most TRI Facilities
- Look up any state directly to see its complete facility, water, and Superfund record in one place. Browse all states
Rankings reflect reported federal data for a single indicator; a high or low rank does not by itself measure overall environmental quality or health risk.
Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.
According to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, this ranking is drawn from PlainEnviro's database of more than 25,000 EPA-tracked facilities and thousands of Safe Drinking Water Information System and Superfund National Priorities List records compiled since federal reporting began under the Emergency Planning and Community Right-to-Know Act in October 1986; see our methodology for the full data-source citations and refresh cadence.
Related
Every figure on PlainEnviro is rendered directly from EPA environmental compliance data, no number is typed in by an editor. Rankings are computed directly from EPA data. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.