Things To Know About Minamata Disease

Shortened explanation: Minamata disease is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning.
(A congenital form of the disease can also affect foetuses in the womb.)

OVERVIEW:
Minamata disease was first discovered in Minamata city in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan in 1956. It was caused by the release of methyl mercury in the industrial wastewater from the Chisso Corporation's chemical factory, which continued from 1932 to 1968. This highly toxic chemical bioaccumulated in shellfish and fish in Minamata Bay and the Shiranui Sea, which when eaten by the local populace resulted in mercury poisoning. While cat, dog, pig and human deaths continued over more than 30 years, the government and company did little to prevent the pollution.

CHISSO'S ACTIONS:
Chisso was coming under closer scrutiny and in order to deflect criticism the wastewater output route was changed. Chisso knew the environmental damage caused by its wastewater and was well aware that it was the prime suspect in the Minamata disease investigation. Despite this, from September 1958, instead of discharging its waste into Hyakken Harbour (the focus of investigation and source of original contamination), it discharged wastewater directly into Minamata River. The immediate effect was the death of fish at the mouth of the river, and from that point on new Minamata disease victims began to appear in other fishing villages up and down the coast of the Shiranui Sea, as the pollution spread over an even greater area.

Chisso failed to co-operate with the investigation team from Kumamoto University. It withheld information on its industrial processes, leaving researchers to speculate what products the factory was producing and by what methods.

The factory's hospital director, Hajime Hosokawa, established a laboratory in the research division of the plant to carry out his own experiments into Minamata disease in July 1959. Food to which factory wastewater had been added was fed to healthy cats. 78 days into the experiment cat 400 exhibited symptoms of Minamata disease and pathological examinations confirmed a diagnosis of organic mercury poisoning. The company did not reveal these significant results to the investigators and ordered Hosokawa to stop his research.

Chisso and other parties with a vested interest that the factory remain open funded research into alternative causes of the disease, other than its own waste in order to undermine Kumamoto University's organic mercury theory.

EFFECTS:
When the first cases were reported and subsequently suppressed, the rights of the victims were not recognised, and they were given no compensation. Instead, the afflicted were ostracized from their community due to ignorance about the disease, as people were afraid that it was contagious.

Minamata disease remains an important issue in contemporary Japanese society. Lawsuits against Chisso and the prefectural and national governments are still continuing and many regard the government responses to date as inadequate.

Most congenital patients are now in their forties and fifties and their health is deteriorating. Their parents, who are often their only source of care, are into their 70s/80s or already deceased. Often these patients find themselves tied to their own homes and the care of their family, in effective isolation from the local community. Some welfare facilities for patients do exist. E.g. Hot House is a vocational training centre for congenital patients as well as other disabled people in the Minamata area. Members are also involved in raising awareness of Minamata disease, often attending conferences and seminars as well as making regular visits to elementary schools throughout Kumamoto Prefecture.

POSSIBLE ARGUMENTS:
- Minamata disease came into being as a result of one chemical complex that was a new and rapidly growing industry. Because of Chisso's pride in its own technological prowess, it was blinded to the dangers of the waste effluents that it allowed to enter the human environment.

- The industry and governmental organizations understood pollution problems only in terms of economic viability, and these same sectors of society tried to evade and cover up these problems through an initially successful series of oppressive measures.

- When industry and government circles were faced with a crisis, instead of attempting to deal in a straightforward manner with the realities involved, they simply initiated a cover-up in order to maintain traditional social structures and relationships for the sake of profit.

- Through active citizens' movements, new methods are discovered and new ways opened up. Most Minamata-disease-related citizens' movements employed non-violent direct action. Disease victims, though socially weak, did not lose the battle, were able to turn their deeply shared mutual experiences into powerful weapons for the fight.