Period+9+-+Minamata

   // __**Minamata The Japanese Mercury Poisoning  **__ //

== Epidemic Breakout  April 21, 1956, a five-year-old girl was examined at the Chisso Corporation's factory hospital in Minamata,Japan.  The physicians were puzzled by her symptoms. She was having difficulty walking, speaking and having convulsions. Two days later her younger sister also began to exhibit the same symptoms and she too was hospitalized. The girls' mother informed doctors that her neighbor's daughter was also experiencing similar problems. After a house-to-house investigation eight further patients were discovered and hospitalized.On May 1, the hospital director reported to the local public health office the discovery of an epidemic of an unknown disease of the central nervous system. Leading to the official discovery of Minamata disease. ==

What was the Minamata disease:
The Minamata disease was an outbreak of mercury poisoning in 1956 which led to the deaths of many people

What caused the Minamata disease outbreak:
The Chisso Corporation was dumping waste into Minamata Bay, which was destroying the fishing areas. The Chisso Corporation was using mercury which was being thrown into the Minamata Bay. This began the epidemic breakout.



This is a cycle of how mercury poisoning affected humans. The Chisso Cooporation was dumping mercury based substances into the bay. Algae would eat the mercury, fish would eat the algae, and then humans would eat the polluted fish. This cycle has inflicted thousands of people with long term health damages and death.

The Effects:

 * Reffered to as chisso- minamata disease which was a neurological syndrome
 * Children were born with birth defects
 * caused personality changes, nervousness, trembling, and even dementia
 * 2,000 people who ate these fish became poisoned

The after mass:

 * finally in 1968 Chisso stopped adding mercury to the water almost 10 years later. Reason being mercury use became outdated.
 * Over 3000 people were recognized for having Minamata Disease

= = =  = =Laws, Policies, and Regulations  = =<span style="DISPLAY: block; COLOR: rgb(0,142,255); FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span style="COLOR: rgb(224,70,6)"><span style="COLOR: rgb(122,5,245)">  = =<span style="DISPLAY: block; COLOR: rgb(0,142,255); FONT-FAMILY: 'Arial Black',Gadget,sans-serif; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span style="COLOR: rgb(224,70,6)"><span style="COLOR: rgb(122,5,245)">  = =<span style="DISPLAY: block; COLOR: rgb(0,142,255); FONT-FAMILY: Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif; TEXT-ALIGN: center"><span style="COLOR: rgb(122,5,245)"> =


 * 1970: The Water Pollution Control Act** was enacted. This Act stopped large businesses and corporations from dumping toxic substances (mercury) in all water areas in Japan.


 * 1970: The Law Concerning Relief of Pollution-related Health Damage** was enforced. Benefits for medical expense, cost for hospital visits and more were provided for sufferers of pollution-related health damage, and Minamata Disease.


 * 1973-1974:** The Environmental Agency set temporary standards for removing mercury from Minimata Bay. The governor of Kumamoto Prefecture set up large nets in Minamata Bay to prevent mercury-polluted fish from entering the sea in order to curb and eventually stop the mercury poisoning.


 * 1974: The Compensation Law** was enacted. Income compensation was provided in addition to medical expense for sufferers of pollution-related health damage.


 * 1974-1990:** A large concentration of methylmercury remained in bottom sediment in Minimata Bay and other bodies of water. In order to remove the polluted sediment, Kumamoto Prefecture carried out the project of dredging 1,500,000 cubic meters of bottom sediment in Minimata Bay. This project removed all contaminated sediment.


 * 1992:** The first Minimata Victims Memorial Service was organized by Minamata City.

http://www.genetics.uga.edu/rbmlab/images/mercycle.gif (laws and policies) http://www.env.go.jp/en/chemi/hs/minamata2002/ch4.html (laws and policies) http://www2.gol.com/users/chapa/cphomepage/university/industrialpollution.html (laws and policies) http://farm1.static.flickr.com/49/172647506_995d6e723f.jpg?v (Minamata Memorial Photo) http://www.mercuryinschools.uwex.edu/lib/images/curriculum/hg_cycle.jpg (Mercury Cycle photo) http://cache.daylife.com/imageserve/0d7Ve68evFcp3/610x.jpg ( Minamata Bay Picture) <span style="FONT-FAMILY: 'Times New Roman','serif'">http://www.american.edu/TED/MINAMATA.HTM http://cobweb.ecn.purdue.edu/~epados/mercbuild/src/poison.htm http://rarediseases.about.com/od/rarediseases1/a/102304.htm http://teratology.org/jfs/Agricultural.html http://www.einap.org/envdis/Minamata.html


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