There are many situations where the geographical location of the lines exposes the insulators to environmental conditions that affect their performance.
This applies to areas located in close proximity to some kind of pollution source. The most common cases tend to be coastal regions, industrially polluted areas and agricultural lands.
In all these cases, whether due to the high levels of contaminants, salinity and humidity of the air, the existence of conductive particles in the environment and even cement, chemicals and bird droppings, insulators may face several challenges.