Question

The Minamata disease is not only a health problem it is an ecological issue. Justify the statement......​

Answer 1

Answer:

Minamata disease was first discovered in the city of Minamata, Kumamoto Prefecture, Japan, in 1956. It was caused by the release of methylmercury in the industrial wastewater from a chemical factory owned by the Chisso Corporation, 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. While cat, dog, pig, and human deaths continued for 36 years, Chisso and the Kumamoto prefectural government did little to prevent the epidemic. The animal effects were severe enough in cats that they came to be named as having "dancing cat fever" (猫踊り病).[2]

As of March 2001, 2,265 victims had been officially recognised as having Minamata disease (1,784 of whom had died)[3] and over 10,000 had received financial compensation from Chisso.[4] By 2004, Chisso had paid US$86 million in compensation, and in the same year was ordered to clean up its contamination.[5] On March 29, 2010, a settlement was reached to compensate as-yet uncertified victims.[6]

A second outbreak of Minamata disease occurred in Niigata Prefecture in 1965. The original Minamata disease and Niigata Minamata disease are considered two of the Four Big Pollution Diseases of Japan.