This is a journey that begins in the mountains of java. And at a lake at the bullet of the wyong boat kaino. The source of the chip tara river. Geographer at the university in the region is well acquainted with the area. I mean when you see tucci sonti is the name of the sacred lake at the beginning of the cheeto room. If we walk a little further i show you the real source where the bubbles come out of the ground i mean. This is how it is the water here is very pure clean enough to wash a face with. Thank you. It will be done it will its more than just home for me i feel at peace here thats the water is still so clean legend says its the water of youth. Thank. You i dont know that she taught home is so important for indonesia its very very important. Thanks to the dams the river generates enough electricity for the islands of java and bali you know what about the money gonna its a source of Drinking Water and used for fish breeding and for agriculture. Well once 3000000 people live along the banks of the river and another 11000000 live around that im good at and the beginning of. The cheeto room is the lifeblood of java and vital to indonesia. The river winds its way down through the island or 300 kilometers before emptying into the java sea east of jakarta the countrys capital. For the 1st few kilometers of the shit oram is no more than a stream. But it rapidly turns into a river one that is essential for farmers. Then the river passes through some of the islands largest cities but the further the river progresses the more its appearance changes. With growing mounds of trash as white plastic gradually replaces the blue water. While indonesia has seen growing economic consumption in recent years its waste treatment system remains chronically underdeveloped leaving the river to serve as an open rubbish dump when local fisherman to fish for bottles. But there are no more fish here because the water is too polluted. Rudy is 23 and works for a recycling cooperative. He patrols the tar him for 9 hours a day every day. For the i think well im the most with plastic water bottle. I collect more than 50 kilos of them and they. Show you 3. Point 5 and 6 euros for. For 6 years now ruby has been plunging his hands into the filthy water. I spoke about the worst is the smell from the dead animals but im used to. Trapped in the underwater roots of this mangrove forests are thousands of pieces of debris with more accumulating every day. Most of it is not collected. Every year indonesian rivers dumped 200000. 00 tonnes of plastic into the sea. Visible pollution shocking in its dimensions. And more than merely an eyesore. But this is not the most dangerous source of pollution. For the cheap torun minutes residents the worst offender is chemical contamination. Those who understand how this plastic plague came about we go to one of the small towns top of along the river and its many textile factories. Newer has spent her entire life here. Every morning the 42 year old goes for this well which is fed by the river i do. That so i use the water from the river to do the dishes washed clothes. That is how you and im. Glad of the shower and to wash vegetables. After the man im the color changes sometimes its black sometimes its red. This morning the ocean is playing and so im taking the opportunity to wash the vegetables in any case we have no choice there are no other sources of water to see how you. Feel having newer lives right by the well in the heart of a district that is home to 3000 people than a quarter of the population are under 15 years old they are the most vulnerable to the toxic substance of this like newer zone 2 children. God these are my own just feels nauseous. And my last time the doctor said he had a liver problem. He also has a headache and he cant take his. Nor has a doctors appointment the clinic is a half hour ride away by horse drawn cart. And. They make the trip twice a month. Her eldest son falls ill as soon as his medication runs out. How long has he been sick. For about 3 days. And what symptoms does he have. To his chest when he calls yesterday he felt sick and he vomited as soon as he tried to wait. All my neighbors have the same problems because we shower with the result and the river is it strangely dirty. And be ironed every alley oh. Yes we also see many cases of diarrhea especially in children it may be related to the contaminated water they drink. But as for the skin diseases we see its hard to prove scientifically. And lets get on to the last you know. Its impossible to draw definitive conclusions there are no epidemiological studies or proof of the impact of pollution from the river on local population. One man is fighting to change that. Didnt respond dani runs the only Environmental Association in the region. For almost 2 decades he has been surveying the chips are gathering evidence of pollution caused by the textile industry. Because remember theyre not going to put out in this region there are 500 textile manufacturers located along that she taught and they pour their sewage directly into the river on average each of these plants disposes of 1300 liters of waste water per day im going somewhere under 3 from among that a bit has different colors depending on the dyes they use what market they are supplying and the type of clothing they have to make the supply on the floor drop out like i did. And now that heres the discharge from several factories if you were going to bring up like this. That if you can see that you know today its dark red i mean. I dont think its hot im a very hot. This is why they call that she tar on the most polluted river in the world. Tomorrow you and it makes me want to cry. Its so sad to see that she tar him in this state remember chamberlain those are going to see my river so dirty up on them too but im going to look at the portfolio. So who are these companies dumping their waste water into the river. We consult a list of textile factories along the river and a map showing their locations. Here we can see all the factories on the banks of the tarmac weve compiled data from the ministry of commerce to provide a clearer picture 75 percent of their production is destined for export in particular to the american and european markets. One of the biggest export in the country is the just text group. Getting access is difficult but the company eventually agrees to let us in. The factory has a workforce of 4 and a half 1000 just taxes cheap product is polyester fabric a Synthetic Material that requires a lot of chemicals to make. The group does most of its business with large clothing retailers. These buildings have around 1000. 00 machines running 24 hours a day 7 days a week. In total the factory turns out almost 3000000 meters of fabric among. The fabric is produced using water that is full of chemicals. The we see water is then discharged into the settling tanks. And they said i always thought the bit oh i thought that. They made that weird and handed me the leg and then the debt is ill fix me that its going to look for the truth im going to do is likely. To be. Less than a really. Good mood not every day. Only 5 parameters check daily compared to the 31 or more recommended by internet. Tional standards. The right. Yes. I dont think so. But if its not come home maybe the movie still needs to be feel that its going to be but i mean its ok. You can pass but for me fish out of control is what the tag i think i put in the hat if i dont get it he then good. The itchy hand test is not exactly convincing if we were to go to fight. What the law is going down. The road it. May be. They also must have thought then well all lot of us get the study up were curious to find out what the waste water discharged by this subcontractor of the Global Textile Industry really contains. Our search involves following this discreet white pipeline on the left which dumps the plants waste into the gitr. The overflow channel is hidden under foliage at the edge of the site. This area is off limits and to access it you have to cross the river from the other side. Theres another one right there a discharge outlet from the just x. Factory. Were now approaching the waste water pipe. 30 meters away the water is already covered with a film open white foam. The for. Getting out of the voters of the carious maneuver. This is what just ex did not want us to see. Were on the companys premises without authorization and have to be quick. We take 2 leaders of sample water to analyze later. Oh. As we proceed down the cheap tar on the smoke from another factory catches our attention. It belongs to lens ing a Global Leader in artificial fibers. The austria base. Company supplies most of the worlds biggest clothing brands this facility to has gigantic settling tanks. Of villagers shows us the factories overflow channel. And then on the banks of the tara see you never know. What a stand on. The stink is almost suffocating. Its here 300 meters away from the factory that lensing disposes of its waste out of sight and alarmingly close to fields and houses. A yellow and black blowup waste that ends in the river. In this case we have more time so we test the water on the spot using an analysis kit for various pollutants that was recommended by a scientist. Can you hear me professor. Loud and clear professor ben on the is a chemist specializing in water pollution. If what youre the 1st analysis being. Chromium because chromate are often used in the textile industry see how thats why i suggested it to you as an indicator. Of chlorox can be an indicator of pollution. As are arsenic nitrates ammonium. 10 milligrams of phosphate per liter on body difference thats the full results only provide a rough assessment of the pollution. For a more accurate reading im going to take some water samples for a laboratory to analyze later. There are rice fields here just a matter of meters away. Rice is the main crop along the tara. Is one of the farmers affected. Look how rotten everything is. I see. So whats wrong with the rice plants i believe the contaminated water causes the roots of my rice to rot and then the end sex attack them look at the end sex you know there are lots of specially a fits the bill because. Of spiels are literally surrounded by textile factories. The water that irrigate says rice fields has an unappetizing purple color and foam on its surface. What pollutants are hiding in this rice. Im going to test it to right before i dont know never. Do. We take our samples of rice and water to the institute of ecology jaja run university. Thats different youre going to ok dont going to want to go im going for you. Writes. Professor sonority city on runs the only lab for environmental analyses in the region. Was the lead species sure. Medically also cadmium lead. When predict if it is Something Like. A continued thank you get you to see you. Not far from the factories while we wait for the results we invite some of the women and children of the village to take part in a test. We offer them a hair analysis to get a more precise picture of the toxins they are exposed to. Its a delicate undertaking. For expert advice we get price up and sell around online. More can you hear me professor. Yes hes a leading expert on Testing Solutions with hair samples and is head of human bio Monitoring Research at the Luxembourg Health institute. What is the point of hair analysis compared to blood or urine tests. Blood or urine test gives us information about the few hours before the sampling with hair its different. The speed of growth is around one centimeter per month and its easy to get samples more than one centimeter long so we have information covering a period of several months and that makes the sample really representative of the individuals chronic exposure. Whats found in the hair has passed through the body and through the blood system. Is going to children have a metabolism that is still maturing and this is precisely why they are especially vulnerable to any kind of endocrine disruptors. In total we take samples from the hair of 10 children from the same neighborhood stage between 12 months and 14 years old. We send them straight to professor up and sell theyre in luxembourg. As were leaving town we receive a phone call from the environmental activists we met on a raft trip. Im in high mass and i think she should come and see the pen and she discharge outlet. They discarding their waste in the middle of the night one of our contacts is on site. The factory is located right next to the to tara. Parkway ok. The Pan Asia Group is one of the largest subcontractors in indonesias textile industry. We filed a complaint to pan asia. Because when the water rises it reaches our fields and it makes our skin start to itch. I dont know what. The water is dirty the smell was unbearable. You know i dont. Think you want to live in snow. Its going to get a villager i talked to told me to put on a mask if i go closer to the water big. Because its true that even from here we can smell it. And its pretty strong. Thank you thank you thank you thank you its really hot and the smell is unbearable. Thank you dont check out the color of the water. Look. At the bottom outta here. Ok. Thank you. Ok. Thank you so much thank you. For this time were unable to send sample to professor city antos laboratory in bond on the professional capital of west java. Instead it goes to a lab in france that specializes in environmental studies. In the meantime the results are back from the 1st samples of the water in rice we gave to professor sooty antos. He asks us to take them to the rice field where we took the samples. He wants to see it for himself because his findings are so astonishing. One thing. From chromium and by the plants we found very high 20. 8. 00 milligrams but we found. A lead. Concentration on the body plans is much. On the limits before. 29. 03 maybe. Im. Only. 20 by 21 times. Im going to increase this is what. Im going to body especially because youre going to lead this very dangerous. Lead. Not for system. But our system so. If the children exposed to lead then they will have. Intellectual disabilities and. Lead i believe. Theres. 3 a very strict then. Were not coming. But you know if there is no standard for many of us then we sacrifice the people. The rice growing along the torah is sold all across indonesia. Its contaminated with lead 116. 00 times the indonesian standard for public consumption. The levels are so high due to the concentration of heavy metals accumulating in the rice fields this lead pollution seems to be in concur with soon already sooty on to other results from testing wastewater emitted from textile factories the waste emerging from the just text discharge outfall contains one and a half times the level of lead permitted by International Standards and the situation is even more alarming with the lensing factory with the waste water lead content times higher and thats not all another parameter stands out. Releases 7087. 00 milligrams per liter into the river almost 10 times the global recommendation excessive levels of solvents in water can lead to diarrhea especially among children this is one of the main. Causes and mortality in the country 147000. 00 in the nation children die each year before the age of 5. Finally we receive our results from the French Laboratory or the manager factory where we took the water samples at night and we go through the findings at the home of danny respond dani the activist from the ellington Conservation Group when we. Get. Into that. We also bring in the man who conducted the pan asia water analysis. Professor ben affleck who were you. The chemist who specializes in water pollution. What do you say to the results. All of the water that you have analyzed is practically sewer water urban waste water. Given the bacteriology and taking into account the chemical oxygen demand plus we have a bit of tribunal phosphate not a product i see very often. Its a solvent. And then we also have a few that exceed the limits set out by the European Union quality standards there are not all females to the concentrations of 70 micrograms per liter. Thats high right. Thats above the Environmental Standards in force in europe. And not all females are products that are end the current disruptors. Not all females are due to regular human activity you know these are chemicals used in the textile industry. Have you seen similar levels of not all females before in your career. Never. Can the water be used in farming no no it shouldnt be used for your occasions. How about washing for washing food. No its really too sceptical eek the water isnt fouled so what should we do if we dont have a choice were dependent on this water. The daily lives here and asks what they can do to use the water anyway because they dont have a choice. At least boil it and react such unaided re area that as a cools down and you need to decant it because it will have particles suspended and if so at least boil it. My main advice is to not drink it. Through the air. Im sad for myself and the residents along the chief thomas. Because the victims of this pollution dont know anything about the degree of danger they are exposed to and are. Through so here are the documents down here. Thanks. This will help us prove that the textile industry is contaminating the water and what impact that has on humans and the ecosystem until now we didnt know exactly what pollutants there were in the water. Thank you. So who are the major fashion brands being supplied by the factories polluting the chip tarm river. We browsed through dozens of clothing items. The labels reveal which ones are made in indonesia. Here look at best made in indonesia. And just what about h. And m. Made in indonesia. Made it into next year. We then acquire lists of the in the nation sub contractors supplying these big brands the factories we took the waste water samples from are among those on the list. And as you say you have in. This company is registered as want to be an m. Sub contractors. Then asia also works with other brands like japans unique low. It was in the Pan Asia Groups water that we found high levels of novel female a powerful hormone disruptor. The just text plant with high lead content in its waste water is also subcontracted by unique low. And lensing the plant with record sulphate levels in its waste Water SuppliesCompanies Like americas gap and british retailer a sows and marks and spencer and once again h. And m. And unique low. Swedish clothing giant h. And m. Has a branch in indonesia based in chicago. Its head offices here on the 21st floor we had already tried to contact them by email but to no avail. Then to our great surprise. The head of h. And m. Indonesia agrees to talk to us. If you can. We do but continue filming on a