There's a place in China's autonomous region of Inner Mongolia where a lake of toxic sludge has been forming for years, and it's only there because of the technology boom.

It's happening in Baotou, the , according to Mining.com. There's, USGS says, that are mined and then used in the production of smartphones, tablets and even "green" technology, like wind turbines. A massive complex known as Baogang Steel and Rare Earth mines and manufacturesthe minerals, but that creates millions of tons of waste per year, and that sludge is dumped nearby , according to the BBC.

"Dozens of pipes line the shore, churning out a torrent of thick, black, chemical waste from the refineries that surround the lake. The smell of sulphur and the roar of the pipes invades my senses. It feels like hell on Earth," said the BBC report.

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In all that sludge, a dirty little secret is hidden. To create our tiny gadgets, mining these rare earth minerals requires a process that isn't so environmentally friendly. Cerium, for example, is one of those elements, which is used in myriad products, BBC also reported. It's used to make catalytic converters and combined with oxygen to polish smartphone touchscreens, among many other purposes.

But the extraction process for cerium isn't exactly green. It requires that the minerals be crushed and then dissolved in sulphuric and nitric acid, BBC added, and when you consider the massive scale by which these minerals are mined and produced to satisfy our craving for technology, it's easy to see why there's so much sludge created.

It's not only disgusting and harmful to the environment, it's been blamed for harming the health of nearby residents. The Want China Times reported in 2011 on , ranging from nausea and dizzy spells to arthritis and migraines when they drink the water. Livestock have died en masse, and some of the radioactive materials found in the mud have been tied to increased risk of several types of cancer, including leukemia, the report added.

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And that's not the only fear plaguing residents. They also told The Want China Times that the dam built to plug up the river sits on a fault line, and if a major earthquake rattles it loose, there could be disastrous consequences downstream.

Before the plant dammed up the river and began dumping sludge, the area , according to a 2012 report by The Guardian. Now, those fields are gone, covered up by radioactive materials.

"Before the factories were built, there were just fields here as far as the eye can see. In the place of this radioactive sludge, there were watermelons, aubergines and tomatoes," said local resident Li Guirong during an interview with The Guardian.

A vast expanse of toxic waste fills the tailings dam on April 21, 2011. Farmers living near the tailings dam, a 10-square-kilometer expanse of toxic waste, say they have lost teeth and their hair has turned white while tests show the soil and water contain high levels of cancer-causing radioactive materials. (FREDERIC J. BROWN/AFP/Getty Images)