Minamata

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Minamata

• By Laurie Brier, Benny DeShazer, Miranda Holmes,
  and Matthew Shelnutt.

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The Town of Minamata

• Located on the coast of the Yatsushiro Sea in
  southwestern Japan.
• The village was very poor.
• Mostly fishermen and farmers.
• Villagers welcome Chisso Corporation

http//www.jnto.go.jp/tourism/img/map/86.gif
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Chisso Corporation

• Chisso nitrogen
• Produced fertilizer
• 1907 Chisso Corp. builds a fertilizer plant in
  the Minamata.
• Job openings
• 1925 plant begins dumping untreated wastewater
  into Minamata Bay
• Kills fish
• Fisherman Payoffs

http//www.japanfocus.org/images/592-3.jpg
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Chisso Corporation

• 1932 Chisso plant begins to produce acetaldehyde
  to be used in the production of plastic, perfume
  and drugs.
• Acetaldehyde is made from acetylene and water
  with a mercury catalyst.
• After WWII plastic production boomed and Chisso
  Corp. grew.
• By 1970 Chisso brought Japan 60 of its income
  and owned nearly 70 of the land in Minamata.

http//www-personal.umich.edu/tobin/Smith2.jpg
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Bizarre Behavior in Animals

• Early 1950s
• Dead fish wash ashore
• Crows fall out of sky
• Suicidal dancing cats
• Mercury moves up the food chain.

http//flickr.com/photos/tropicalrips/127535537/
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Mid 1950s Behavior Seen in Humans

• Behaviors witnessed
• Loss of motor control in hands
• Violent tremors
• Swaggered walk
• Insanity
• Cat-dancing disease
• Nobody knew the cause of the epidemic.
• Many hid for fear of ridicule

http//www.hamline.edu/personal/amurphy01/es110/es
website/ProjectsSpring03/ebarker/Minamata20Web20
Page.htm
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Putting the Pieces Together

• 1956 Researchers at Chisso Corp. Hospital
  experiment on cats with wastewater from the
  Chisso plant.
• They warn Chisso corp.
• Chisso corp. redirects the flow of wastewater to
  avoid being caught.
• A larger geographical area contaminated.
• Children born with horrifying deformities.

http//www.nimd.go.jp/archives/english/tenji/a_cor
ner/image/hasseimap.gif
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Putting the Pieces Together

• 1968 Government ran Public Health service traces
  the contamination to the Minamata Chisso plant.
• Government halts the production of acetaldehyde
• 1972 Government publically announces Chisso
  Corps part in the Minamata epidemic and orders
  Chisso Corp to pay compensation to the families
  that were affected.

http//www.icett.or.jp/lpca_jp.nsf/505b1fe895fd2a8
c492567ca000d587d/e35dc782654b21d7492567ca000d8c50
?OpenDocument
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The Aftermath

• 30-70 tons of methyl mercury was dumped into the
  Bay
• 10,000 people affected by Minamata disease.
• 3,000 died
• Compensation has been given to families as
  recently as 1990.
• Highest compensation for the disaster was just
  under 3,000.

http//www.physorg.com/news110359851.html
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Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
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Methylmercury In the Body

• Methylmercury exposure in humans is from
  consumption of fish, marine mammals, and
  crustaceans
• 95 of fish-derived methylmercury is absorbed
  into the gastrointestinal tract and distributed
  throughout the body
• Highest in concentration in hair

www.mercury.utah.gov/images/health_effects.jpg
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Minamata Disease in the Nervous System

• Areas in red show areas typically affected by the
  presence of methylmercury in the system . The
  lesions show characteristic signs and symptoms in
  Minamata disease.
• 1. Gait disturbance, loss of balance (ataxia),
  speech disturbance (Dysarthria)
• 2. Sight disturbance of peripheral areas in the
  visual fields (constriction of visual fields)
• 3. Stereo anesthesia (Disturbance of sensation)
• 4. Muscle weakness, muscle cramp (disturbance of
  movement)
• 5. Hardness of hearing (hearing disturbance)
• 6. Disturbance of sense of pain, touch or
  temperature (Disturbance of sensation)

National institute of Minamata Disease Archives
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Symptoms of the Disease

• Mild
• Ataxia
• Muscle weakness
• Narrowed field of vision
• Hearing and speech damage
• Severe cases cause
• Insanity
• Paralysis
• Coma
• Death

W. Eugene SmithTomoko Uemura in Her
BathMinamata, 1972
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More Symptoms

• A significant effect of Minamata is the onset of
  symptoms similar to those of cerebral palsy
• Fetal Minamata Disease
• A pregnant mother ingests toxic fish and the
  methylmercury concetrates inside the placenta.
• Harms the fetus while the mother is relatively
  unaffected

http//picasaweb.google.com/jazzyv0504/SAKURA5065
603192708172658
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These are all children with congenital (fetal)
Minamata Disease due to intrauterine methyl
mercury poisoning (Harda 1986).
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Mercury The Basics

• Mercury (Hg) is the only metal that is liquid at
  room temperature. It melts at -38.9oC and
  boils at 356.6oC.
• Mercury conducts electricity, expands uniformly
  with temperature and easily forms alloys with
  other metals (called amalgams).
• For these reasons, it is used in many products
  found in homes and schools.

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Mercury Chemistry

• Mercury exists in three oxidation states
• Hg0 (elemental mercury).
• Hg22 (mercurous).
• Hg2 (mercuric).
• Mercurous and mercuric form numerous inorganic
  and organic chemical compounds.
• Organic forms of mercury, especially methyl
  mercury, CH3Hg(II)X, where X is a ligand
  (typically Cl- or OH-) are the most toxic forms.

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Uses of Mercury

• We use its unique properties to conduct
  electricity, measure temperature and pressure,
  act as a biocide, preservative and disinfectant
  and catalyze reactions.
• It is the use of mercury in catalysis that
  contributed to the events in Minamata.
• Other uses include batteries, pesticides,
  fungicides, dyes and pigments, and the scientific
  apparati.

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Mercury in the Environment

• Upwards of 70 of the mercury in the environment
  comes from anthropogenic sources, including
• Metal processing, waste incineration, and
  coal-powered plants.
• Natural sources include volcanoes, natural
  mercury deposits, and volatilization from the
  ocean.
• Estimates are that human sources have nearly
  doubled or tripled the amount of mercury in the
  atmosphere.

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The Aquatic Mercury Cycle
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Cleaning up

• The Minamata Spill
• Dredging
• Other ways of cleaning mercury spill
• United States
• Experimental ways
• Ongoing Research

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Minamata Cleanup

• Whats is Dredging?
• Underwater excavation

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Minamata Cleanup

• Dredging
• Types
• Mechanical
• Hydraulic
• Airlift

Hydraulic
Mechanical
Airlift
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Minamata Cleanup

• Disposal of Sediment
• Landfills
• Disposal facility
• Ocean placement
• Confined Disposal Facilities (CDFs)

Recycling
Separation
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U.S. Mercury Cleanups

• Precipitation/ Co precipitation
• Absorption treatment
• Membrane Filtration
• Biological treatment

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Other ways of Clean Up

• Capping of Mercury contaminated Sediments w/
  sand
• Inhibition of Mercury Methylation by Iron
  Sulfides
• Immobilization of Aqueous Hg (II) by Iron Sulfides

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Experimental Research

• Nanotechnology
• Phytoremediation
• Air Stripping
• In Situ Thermal Desorption (ISTD)

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Minamata Bay Today

• Eco Park of Minamata Bay has 2 purposes
• A stone memorial
• Landfill for Mercury

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Questions???
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References

• Allchin, Douglas. "The Poisoning of Minamata."
  SHiPS. 22 Nov 2008 lthttp//www1.umn.edu/ships/ethi
  cs/minamata.htmgt.
• "Minamata disaster far from over." 30 Sept 2007.
  CNN. 22 Nov 2008 lthttp//www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/as
  iapcf/09/30/japan.eco disaster.ap/index.htmlgt.
• "Minamata, Japan ." Mercury Technology Services.
  22 Nov 2008 lthttp//www.hgtech.com/Information/Min
  amata_Japan.htmlgt.
• "Minamata The unfolding mercury disaster."
  Corrosion Doctors. 22 Nov 2008 lthttp//corrosion-d
  octors.org/Elements- Toxic/Minamata-1.htmgt.
• "Outline of Minamata Disease 1. Cause and Damage
  of Minamata Disease." Minamata Disease Archives.
  National Institute for Minamata Disease . 22 Nov
  2008 lthttp//www.nimd.go.jp/archives/english/tenji
  /a_corner/a01.htmlgt.
• Thorpe, Thomas. A Dictionary of Applied Chemistry
  . revised. London, England Longmans, Greens and
  Co., 1921.

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References

• Rice, Glenn and Ambrose, Robert and Bullock, O.
  and Stwartout, Jeff. "Fate and Transport of
  Mercury in the Environment." Mercury Study Report
  to Congress 3December 1997 1-376. 22 Nov 2008.
• United States Environmental Protection Agency,
  "EPA's Roadmap for Mercury." U.S. EPA. July 2006.
  U.S. EPA. 22 Nov 2008 lthttp//www.epa.gov/mercury/
  roadmap/htmgt.
• Moller, Greg. "Environmental Toxicology of
  Mercury." 2004. University of Idaho. 22 Nov 2008
  lthttp//www.agls.uidaho.edu/etox/lectures/lecture_
  socrates/2004/Socrates_Hg.pdfgt.
• Childress, Amy. "Bioaccumulation of Mercury." Why
  do I need to worry about mercury?. 2002. Purdue
  University. 22 Nov 2008 lthttp//cobweb.ecn.purdue.
  edu/epados/mercbuild/src/bioac.htmgt.
• King, Susy. "Mercury in the Environment." Water
  Quality - Mercury. 2008. New England Interstate
  Water Pollution Control Commission. 22 Nov 2008
  ltwww.neiwpcc.org/mercury/environment.aspgt.
• Unknown, "Aquatic Cycling of Mercury in the
  Everglades." SOFIA. September 2008. United States
  Geological Society. 22 Nov 2008
  lthttp//sofia.usgs.gov/projects/index.php?project_
  urlevergl_mercgt.

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References

• What is Dredging? 12 Jun. 2007
  http//education.usace.army.mil/navigation/dredgin
  g.html
• Jianrong, Liu. Mercury Transport Through a
  Capped Sediment (2008) 4-169.
• U.S. EPA Technology Innovation Program Treatment
  technologies For Mercury in Soil, Waste and
  Water 20 Aug. 2007 11-129.
• Coastal Eustuarine Geology Dredged Sediment
  Studies 07, Jan. 2005 http//www.mgs.md.gov/coasta
  l/dredge/gifs/hydraul3.gif
• USACE Education Navigation Lesson 6 Dredging
  Level 1 http//education.usace.army.mil/navigation
  /lessons/6/dredgels6lv1.html
• WDNR Lower Fox river Deposit N Removal
  Project http//www.dnr.stat.wi.us/org/water/wm/Fox
  river/images/depnproc.gif
• "Blood and Hair Mercury Levels in Young Children
  and Women of Childbearing Age --- United States,
  1999 ". Centers for Disease Control and
  Prevention . 11/23/2008 lthttp//www.cdc.gov/mmwr/p
  review/mmwrhtml/mm5008a2.htmgt.

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References

• Minamata at 50The tragedy deepens
• http//japanfocus.org/products/topdf/1994

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The End

• Thank you!!