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Jul 10, 2023 · At the time, people ate fish that had been contaminated by large quantities of mercury compounds that were discharged into Minamata Bay by a chemical factory. This article will go over what Minamata disease is, the history of how it developed, and what the effects are today.
Minamata disease is a disease of the central nervous system, a poisoning caused by long-term consumption, in large amounts, of fish and shellfish from Minamata Bay. The causative agent is methylmercury.
Oct 30, 2021 · Masami Ogata is a survivor of Minamata Disease, a debilitating illness caused by industrial mercury poisoning, which originated in the Japanese town of the same name in the 1950s. As a UN...
In the late 1950s Minamata Bay, Japan became contaminated with mercury from a nearby factory manufacturing the chemical acetaldehyde (Chisso Corporation's chemical waste pipe). The mercury was biotransformed by bacteria in the water into methylmercury, or organic mercury, that bioaccumulated and biomagnified in the muscle of fish.
Dec 5, 2022 · Minamata disease refers to a tragic event where people in the coastal community of Minamata Bay, Japan, developed severe neurological disorders following exposure to methylmercury.
- Helen Millar
The first disease whose cause was recognized as industrial pollution of seawater, Minamata disease aroused worldwide concern and did much to stimulate the development of the environmental protection movement. Minamata Bay was determined to be mercury-free as of July 1997.
Oct 6, 2023 · From 1932 to 1968, a chemical factory in the coastal city discharged liquid containing high concentrations of methylmercury, a type of mercury, into a local bay. Unbeknownst to residents, the chemical would accumulate in the fish they ate for decades.
