Expansion of methylmercury poisoning outside of Minamata: An epidemiological study on chronic methylmercury poisoning outside of Minamata
- Yoron Hospital, Kagoshima (Japan)
- Kumamoto Univ. Medical School (Japan); and others
The first methylmercury poisoning by consumption of fish arose in Minamata, Japan, in 1953. Methylmercury dispersed from Minamata to the to the Shiranui Sea until 1968. Mercury concentration in the hair of residents on the coast of the Shiranui Sea was 10 to 20 times higher than in nonpolluted people in Kumamoto Prefecture in 1960. People on the coast of the Shiranui Sea have consumed fish containing low-dose methylmercury without a ban over decades until 1968. We studied the effect of long-term consumption of methylmercury on those people 10 years later after the end of methylmercury dispersion. Our epidemiological study clarified that people in a fishing village (Ooura) on the coast of the Shiranui Sea showed a significantly higher frequency of neurological signs characteristics of methylmercury poisoning (hypoesthesia, ataxia, impairment of hearing, visual change, and dysarthria) in comparison with people in a nonpolluted fishing village (Ichiburi). The neurological disorders were still detected 10 years later in Ooura after the end of methylmercury dispersion from Minamata: hypoesthesia showed the highest frequency in Ooura. These results suggest that people on the coast of the Shiranui Sea were affected by long-term dietary exposure to methylmercury. 14 refs., 1 fig., 1 tab.
- OSTI ID:
- 443495
- Journal Information:
- Environmental Research, Vol. 70, Issue 1; Other Information: PBD: Jul 1995
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Methylmercury causes epigenetic suppression of the tyrosine hydroxylase gene in an in vitro neuronal differentiation model
Mercury in women exposed to methylmercury through fish consumption, and in their newborn babies and breast milk