Minamata disease Guide, Meaning , Facts, Information and Description
Minamata disease is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning. Symptoms include ataxia, sensory disturbance in the hands and feet, damage to vision and hearing, weakness, and in extreme cases paralysis and death.In May of 1956, four patients from Minamata, Japan, a city on the west coast of the southern island of Kyushu, were admitted to hospital. The doctors were puzzled by the symptoms they held in common: severe convulsions, bouts of psychosis, loss of consciousness and coma. Finally, after a very high fever, all four patients died. They were shocked at the high mortality rate for the new illness: it was found that thirteen other people, including those from small fishing villages near Minamata had died with the same symptoms, as well as local domestic animals and birds. It was found that a common factor of all the victims is that they all ate large quantities of fish from Minamata Bay. Researchers from Kumamoto University came to the conclusion that the malady was not a sickness, but rather poisoning by toxic substances. It became clear that the poisonings were linked to a production facility in Minamata making ethanal and PVC, a type of plastic, owned by the Chisso Corporation; however, speaking publicly against the company was verboten as it was a significant employer in the city. Eventually, the medical research team reached the tentative conclusion that the deaths were caused by mercury poisoning through the consumption of contaminated fish and shellfish; mercury was being used by the Chisso complex as a reaction catalyst.
The company had hidden from the public eye knowledge of the use of the chemical. A riot by local fishers on November 2nd, 1959 in which Chisso Corporation property was destroyed succeeded in bringing the matter to the Japanese public’s attention. In total, more than 900 people have died in severe pain due to the poisonings (dubbed “Minamata disease”) and research in 2001 indicated that as many as two million people may have been affected by eating contaminated fish. The Japanese government acknowledged the source of the poisonings in 1968 and the chemical dumping was halted. As of 2001, 2,955 people had been certified as suffering from Minamata disease. Of these, 2,265 had been living on the coast of the Yatsushiro Sea. Patients are eligible for financial compensation and assistance with their medical expenses. To reduce public concern, the Japanese government also provides medical examinations for people living in the affected area. These compensations and actions are considered inadaquite by many.
Photojournalism by W. Eugene Smith brought world attention to Minamata disease.
National Institute for Minamata Disease
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