3/20/2024 0 Comments Minamata mercury poisoning![]() On Wednesday, a new United Nations mercury treaty was ceremonially launched at the “Eco-Park.” Leaders from around the world stood atop 1.5 million cubic meters of toxic mercury waste – an image that Minamata victims said they find strange and ironic.ĭuring negotiations of the mercury treaty three years ago, Sakamoto personally handed a letter to a top government official from victims groups opposing the proposal to name the treaty the “Minamata Convention.” The letter uses polite language to express an underlying outrage that Minamata victims feel about naming the mercury treaty after their unresolved tragedy. ![]() Hidden from view, it remains in a vulnerable location next to the Bay where it originally poisoned the community. Vulnerable to both earthquakes and tsunamis, the site is now more than halfway through its expected 40- to 50-year lifespan, with no plan for remediation in sight. That sediment has now been turned into a massive landfill, capped with grass and dubbed an “Eco-Park.” The sludge under the park has been “temporarily” placed there for more than 30 years without any mercury removal. Yamashita described how eventually the majority of the bay was transformed as it was filled with the mercury-containing sediment. Yamashita knows because he used to work at Chisso. Last Saturday, IPEN representatives from 25 countries listened in the rain as Yoshihiro Yamashita, a Minamata disease victim, stood outside Chisso’s main gate and animatedly explained how Chisso for years dumped wastewater contaminated with mercury into Minamata Bay. Approximately 65,000 have applied to the government for compensation. In 2004, the Supreme Court declared these criteria to be invalid, and last February, a newspaper reported that the Environment Ministry repeatedly requested a medical doctor to lie in a court case to prevent certification of Minamata disease. The discrepancy stems from the diagnostic criteria the government has used to certify Minamata disease. Forty-one years later, Sakamoto is still fighting for justice.Īlthough 2,273 individuals were officially recognized as Minamata disease patients as of 2011, tens of thousands experience neurological symptoms characteristic of methylmercury poisoning, but they remain formally unrecognized as Minamata disease patients. In 1972, Sakamoto and her mother traveled to the UN Conference on the Human Environment, where she shocked a global audience with the visible harms of mercury. Instead of letting her disability deter her, Sakamoto became a leader among Minamata victims. The mercury-contaminated fish eaten by her mother damaged her ability to walk and speak, and later the local elementary school rejected her. Shinobu Sakamoto was born in 1956, shortly after reports of Minamata disease emerged. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today. If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. Though thousands of people suffered crippling illnesses, no independent, systematic health study of the Minamata region was ever conducted, so the total number of sickened people remains unknown. Later, with the aid of the Japanese government, it split into two parts to limit its financial liability to Minamata disease victims. Many of the afflicted died.įor years, Chisso refused to take meaningful action to limit mercury poisoning from its emissions. ![]() People who ate local fish developed Minamata disease – a debilitating condition in which they lose sensation in their hands and feet, can no longer run or walk without stumbling or falling and have difficulty seeing, hearing, speaking and swallowing. discharged methylmercury into Minamata Bay from 1932 to 1968, poisoning the city’s food supply. Minamata’s rolling hills and striking beauty contrast with its brutal history. As a new international mercury treaty is launched, they hope that no one ever again will suffer as they have. Despite twisted limbs, tremors and confinement to wheelchairs, people afflicted by the world’s most infamous mercury poisoning still struggle for justice. MINAMATA, Japan – Determination takes on a special meaning here.
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