Water World

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Water World

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  Pollution

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Minamata disease causes serious damage to the
nervous system, resulting in uncontrollable
shaking and muscle wasting. It also produces
appalling deformities in the children of
sufferers.
A debilitating illness of the nervous system
caused by mercury poisoning has re-emerged,
scientists have warned. Minamata disease causes
serious damage to the nervous system, resulting
in uncontrollable shaking and muscle wasting. It
also produces appalling deformities in the
children of sufferers.
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It is the first time it has been diagnosed
outside the Japanese town from which it takes it
name and where about 1,500 contracted symptoms in
the 1950s. A toxic, organic form of mercury
known as methyl mercury is believed to be
responsible for the disease. The Japanese
victims had eaten fish from a bay polluted by
mercury from a metals plant.
These included involuntary shaking, sensitivity
to bright light, partial blindness and loss of
muscle strength. Both research teams pinned the
blame on the consumption of methyl mercury in
fish. They agree that bacteria living in
oxygen-starved conditions in river sediments are
believed to convert inorganic mercury into the
dangerous methylated form.
Methyl mercury attacks the cerebellum, which
coordinates voluntary movements, and destroys the
personality. Hiroshi Takahasi, an epidemiologist
with the Japanese Ministry of Health and Welfare,
said "Survivors in Minamata are still suffering.
It should not happen again."
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The neurological disorder caused by the
poisoning, known as Minamata disease, is linked
to eating fish polluted by mercury that a
chemical firm dumped. The condition causes
shivering limbs, seizures and problems with
talking. About 20,000 people have applied to be
recognised as sufferers and nearly 4,000 of them
still seek compensation.
The memorial service took place alongside the bay
on the south-western island of Kyushu where the
giant Chisso Corp dumped the mercury for a number
of years. The problem was first officially
recognised on 1 May, 1956 but the dumping
continued until 1968 and the firm was not held
responsible until 1973.
About 1,000 people have gathered in the south
Japanese town of Minamata on the 50th anniversary
of a mercury poisoning outbreak that claimed
2,000 lives.
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At the service, Minamata Mayor Katsuaki Miyamoto
told sufferers and their relatives "We know the
problem once caused by the pollution has not been
solved even after 50 years. "We need to lead the
way for the human race and to continue to sound
the alarm to prevent such a tragic event
happening again." On Sunday a memorial was
unveiled in Minamata to the victims. On
Saturday, hundreds of people with the disease and
their supporters marched in Tokyo to pressure the
government into further expanding help to
sufferers. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro
Koizumi last week expressed official regret for
government failures. Although the government
says it will expand its assistance programme, it
is not planning to redefine symptoms to allow
wider compensation payouts. Chisso's chairman,
Shunichi Goto, was among those attending Monday's
ceremony.
One of the world's worst cases of mercury
poisoning happened at Minimata Bay in Japan in
1952, also when effluent from a factory reached
local waterways. Nearly 70 people died, and
hundreds of others were affected. Most were
poisoned by eating contaminated fish.
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