Mexico moves to combat pollution following Guardian investigations

After stories revealed high levels of contamination in neighborhood around factory processing US toxic waste, government announces sweeping array of tactics

The Mexican government has announced it will pursue a sweeping array of tactics to combat industrial pollution, from $4.8m in fines against a plant processing US hazardous waste to the rollout of a new industrial air-monitoring system, following investigations by the Guardian and Quinto Elemento Lab, a Mexican investigative unit.

Those stories revealed high levels of heavy-metal contamination in the neighborhood around the factory, Zinc Nacional, in the Monterrey metropolitan area, and showed the broader extent of industrial pollution in the region, linked to Monterrey’s role in manufacturing and recycling goods for the US market.

The investigations found that facilities were releasing more toxic heavy metals into the city’s air than the totals reported in many US states, and more carbon dioxide than nearly half the world’s nations.

In an announcement last week, the government said it would establish a new atmospheric monitoring network for industry, “the first of its kind in Latin America”. It said the system would measure emissions from industry, including heavy metals.

Mariana Boy Tamborrell, Mexico’s federal attorney for environmental protection, said the latest moves represent a new wave of enforcement against industrial pollution in Mexico . They originated when the first stories were published in early 2025 and include Zinc Nacional agreeing to address environmental damage, according to her agency.

“The work we have done over the past year with Zinc Nacional is a watershed moment in how we monitor and inspect regulatory compliance by industries,” she said in a statement.

Boy Tamborrell’s agency, known as Profepa, said in response to questions from journalists that the air monitoring system would be rolled out over the next three years, and that the first part of it would operate in the industrial area of Monterrey.