Q3Minamata

Question 3: MINAMATA DISEASE The Minamata disease impacts many Japanese people and the environment in many ways because of the chemical Mercury. It is used in many industrial areas and factories that manufactured chemicals, plastic, made paint, contaminated fish, shellfish and caused illness to people who ate them. Mercury poisoning spread to marine animals as well because it was dumped into the sea which caused the death of birds, cats, and dogs that ate the marine animals such as fish and crab. It poisons humans in ways that harm our body functions and tissues. It may cause the numbing of lips, tongue and limbs, shouting uncontrollably, dropping silverware during dinner and slurred speech. The disease may continue to spread to the nerve system and the brain causing deafness and blurred vision. The Minamata disease didn’t only destroy people’s health but made economic problems for fishermen and caused them anxiety. The community was damaged and the patients affected by the disease continued to increase. During the 1950’s fisherman noticed strange behaviour and changes in the Minamata bay. Suddenly, there was a large number of fish that died for no reason and some birds were so weak that they could not fly. Cats also started acting strangely as if they were dancing and were spinning around in circles then falling into the sea while some others died. The disease killed so many cats that there were only a few left by the year 1958. Sometimes the dogs and the pigs become affected too. In 1956, a five year old girl was taken to hospital because of symptoms that were very much similar to brain disease. Five weeks later, her sister and four neighbours were also admitted to the hospital because of the same symptoms and were having problems with their speech, balance and the control of their mind. People in towns thought that it was an infection disease and were scared that it would spread. Investigators found some 30 other people who suffered from the same symptoms but no one had no idea what was causing the symptoms. Later on, doctors examined people closer and found out that it was poisoning from eating fish/seafood. Tests were put in Minamata bay and found over 7 poisons in heavy metal in the water. No action was taken at that time to stop the poisoning so the fishermen continued to fish and the people continued to eat the fish and then the patients increased. By the end of 1956 there were over 52 cases of the disease.

The disease still affects thousands of people at different stages. In some cases, it can kill people while others are severely mental and unstable, many are affected in their limbs and brain, they have difficulty moving, speech handicaps and problems with their school work. Even children that have never eaten fish can be affected by the disease because of their parents that have been affected by it. As the Mercury dumping continued, babies were also affected by the disease as they inherit it from their mothers that were poisoned. The babies that were born from poisoned mothers had severe deformities such as gnarled limbs (twisted arms/legs/fingers/toes), mental retardation and blindness and deafness as well. During 1968 2,955 people were affected by the disease and 1,784 people have died. It was later found out that the Chisso Corporation had dumped approximately 25 tonnes of Mercury into the Minamata bay.

   __[]__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0000ff; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; vertical-align: auto;">__[]__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0000ff; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; vertical-align: auto;">__[]__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0000ff; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; vertical-align: auto;">__[]__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0000ff; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; vertical-align: auto;">__[]__ <span style="background-color: transparent; color: #000000; display: block; font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; text-decoration: none;"><span style="background-color: transparent; color: #0000ff; font-family: Times New Roman; font-size: 16px; text-align: left; vertical-align: auto;">__[]__

Question 1 Question 2 Question 4 Question 5 Question 6