Period+6+-+Minamata

Mercury Poisoning __**
 * __ Minamata, Japan

__ L ocation __

Minamata is a village located on the west coast of the southern island Kyushu in Japan. Amakusa Island is across the bay from the village.

The Episode

Its disturbing story begins, perhaps, in the 1930s, as the town was continuing to shed its heritage as a poor fishing and farming village. In 1932 the Chisso Corporation, an integral part of the local economy since 1907, began to manufacture acetaldehyde, used to produce plastics. As we know now, mercury from the production process began to spill into the bay. Though no one knew until decades later, the heavy metal became incorporated into methyl mercury chloride: an organic form that could enter the food chain. At the time, Minamata residents relied almost exclusively on fish and shellfish from the bay as a source of protein. After World War II (around 1952), the production of acetaldehyde boomed. So, too, did the local economy--and most residents welcomed their improved lifestyles. About the same time, fish began to float in Minamata Bay. Chisso, as it had since 1925, continued to pay indemnity to local fishermen for possible damage to their fishing waters. Also at that time, cats began to exhibit bizarre behavior that sometimes resulted in their falling into the sea and dying, in what residents referred to as "cat suicides."

In the early 1950s, similar behavior began to appear--sporadically and without much notice--in humans. People would stumble while walking, not be able to write or button their buttons, have trouble hearing or swallowing, or tremble uncontrollably. In 1956 an apparent epidemic broke out and one can imagine the confusion--and fear--that was prevalent because no one knew the cause.The physiological effects, including successive loss of motor control, were devastating, and resulted in sometimes partly paralyzed and contorted bodies.By the end of 1956, epidemiological and medical researchers identified the disease as heavy-metal poisoning caused by eating the fish and shellfish of Minamata Bay. Direct evidence that mercury from the Chisso plant was responsible, however, did not emerge until 1959. Dr. Hajimé Hosokawa, in private tests on cats at the Chisso Company Hospital, showed that the plant's acetaldehyde waste water caused the disease symptoms (though the results were not made public). Chisso installed a "cyclator" designed to control the emissions, offered `mimai' (consolation payments) to the patients, and the matter seemed resolved. Nearly 100 patients had been identified, of whom over twenty had died. More patients emerged, however. Children were also born with the "disease." The geographical distriubtion of cases widened. In 1963, Public Health Service researchers traced the disease to mercury from Chisso. Controversy soon erupted over who was responsible for compensating the victims and supporting their families. It was not until 1970 that a district court ruled that Chisso make payments totalling $3.2 million to the original group of patients; others soon received payment by negotiating directly with Chisso.

Chisso still operates in Minamata and now produces chemicals, fertilizer and floppy discs. The city has diminished in size, now almost 70% of its peak population in the 1960s. Mercury permeates sediment of bay, where fishing has long been prohibited. One of the two dumping sites is being filled in and a memorial garden is planned. The incident is rarely discussed, but residents know that things have changed; a certain confidence or buoyancy is missing. In a sense, the way of life in Minamata itself has been poisoned

__ Minamata Diease __

Thousands of people suffered brain damage, numbness, tremors, loss of sight or hearing, or other injuries after eating fish contaminated with mercury compounds dumped into Minamata Bay. These symptoms caused the mercury poisoning to be called Minamata Disease. Minamata Disease is a neurological syndrome casused by severe mercury poisoning. Some severe syptoms of the Minamata Disease are insanity, paralysis, coma, and death.

__     Timeline      __

** 1889: ** Official designation of Minamata Village upon nationwide adoption of the Village system.(pop. 12,040) ** 1906: ** Shitagau Noguchi Sogi establishes Electric Co. (former Chisso Co.) in the Village of Okuchi, Isagun, Kagoshima Prefecture. **1908:** Nippon Carbide Co. Begins manufacturing at Minamata Plan. Sogi Electric supplies electric power. Sogi Electric and Nippon Carbide merge and form Nippon Nitrogen Fertilizer Co. Ltd.. (hereafter called N. N.) ** 1912: ** Minamata Village is re-designated as Minamata Town. ** 1932: ** N. N. Minamata begins first stage operations of acetaldehyde compound acetic acid facilities. ** 1941: ** N. N. Minamata begins first production of vinyl chloride in Japan. ** 1949: ** City system adopted, becomes Minamata City. (pop. 42,270) **1950:** N. N. Minamata becomes Shin Nippon Chisso Fertilizer Co., Ltd. (hereafter called SNC) ** 1956: ** Official discovery of Minamata disease: the director of SNC Hospital reports to the Minamata Public Health Center on an influx of patients with similar nervous system damage symptoms.

References http://corrosion-doctors.org/Elements-Toxic/Minamata-1.htm http://corrosion-doctors.org/Elements-Toxic/Minamata-2.htm http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B0CE0DF113AF933A05754C0A961958260&n=Top%2FNews%2FScience%2FTopics%2FFish%20and%20Other%20Marine%20Life http://www.env.go.jp/en/chemi/hs/minamata2002/refer.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Minamata_disease http://www1.umn.edu/ships/ethics/minamata.htm


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