MINAMATA DISESE
Minamata disease, is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning.Minamata disease was first discovered in
Minamata city in
Kumamoto prefecture,
Japan, in 1956. It was caused by the release of
methylmercury in the industrial
wastewater from the
Chisso Corporation's chemical factory, which continued from 1932 to 1968. It has also been suggested that some of the
mercury sulfate in the wastewater was also metabolized to methylmercury by bacteria in the sediment.
[1] This highly
toxic chemical
bioaccumulated and
biomagnified in shellfish and fish in
Minamata Bay and the
Shiranui Sea, which, when eaten by the local population, resulted in mercury poisoning.
