What is the Minamata disease in Japan?
Minamata disease is a methylmercury poisoning with neurological symptoms and caused by the daily consump- tion of large quantities of fish and shellfish that were heavily contaminated with the toxic chemical generated in chemical factories and then discharged into the sea.
What happened at Minamata?
Minamata disease (M. d.) is methylmercury (MeHg) poisoning that occurred in humans who ingested fish and shellfish contaminated by MeHg discharged in waste water from a chemical plant (Chisso Co. Ltd.). It was in May 1956, that M.
How did Minamata disease affect the environment?
The types of damage caused by methylmercury discharged by the responsible companies are (1) health damage to individual persons; (2) environmental pollution, including fish and shellfish; and (3) exhaustion of a local community due to discrimination of the victims and conflicts among local residents.
What were the symptoms of Minamata disease?
The symptoms of Minamata disease include sensory disorders in the distal portion of the four extremities (loss of sensation in the hands and feet), ataxia (difficulty coordinating movement of hands and feet), concentric constriction of the visual field (narrowing of the field of vision), hearing impairment.
What does Minamata mean?
Medical Definition of Minamata disease : a toxic neuropathy caused by the ingestion of methylmercury compounds (as in contaminated seafood) and characterized by impairment of cerebral functions, constriction of the visual field, and progressive weakening of muscles.
When was Minamata disaster?
It is now 50 years since the most horrific mercury poisoning disaster the world has ever seen took place in Minamata, Japan. In May 1956, four patients from the city of Minamata on the west coast of the southern Japanese island of Kyushu were admitted to hospital with the same severe and baffling symptoms.
How did the Minamata disease affect animals?
By 1953, cats were frequently dying from cramps with a condition dubbed “dancing disease.” Kitamura et al. (1957) reported that 50 of 61 cats bred by families of Minamata disease patients died in 1953–1956. By the mid-1950s, the reports of toxic effects on marine life began to extend to nearby coasts.
What is the treatment of Minamata disease?
The most important aspect of treatment is the removal of mercury from the body using chelating agents. Chelating agents prevent heavy metals like mercury from binding with body tissue, by reacting with and binding with it themselves.
What was the cause of Minamata disease in Japan?
Minamata disease was first discovered in Minamata city in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan, in 1956. It was caused by the release of methylmercury in the industrial wastewater from the Chisso Corporation’s chemical factory, which continued from 1932 to 1968.
How did the Minamata factory affect the environment?
The Minamata factory became the most advanced in all of Japan, both before and after World War II. The waste products resulting from the manufacture of these chemicals were released into Minamata Bay through the factory wastewater. These pollutants had an environmental impact.
How many people died in the Minamata disaster?
According to the Japanese government, 2,955 people contracted Minamata disease and 1,784 people have since died. Researchers believe, however, that the criteria the government uses to diagnose Minamata disease is too strict, and that anyone showing any level of sensory impairment should be considered a victim.
Where is the city of Minamata in Japan?
Minamata is a Japanese city of 34,000 people on the north-west coast of Kumamoto Prefecture in the island of Kyushu. It lies astride a small river that empties into Minamata Bay, an arm of the semienclosed Shiranui (Yatsushiro) Sea.
