Japan

The problem The Minamata disaster was one of the biggest cases of industrial pollution in Japan. Minamata, on southern Kyushu island, was traditionally supported by rice farming, salt production and fishing.

In 1908, a company called Chisso was built. Within its activities, it started to drain untreated water into Minamata Bay, which started to destroy all sea life. At the same time, people began noticing a strange thing - cats suddenly started to 'dance' and die.

Impact on the people By 1956, people were also being affected, with headaches, loss of sense of taste and smell, and loss of consciousness. Babies were born with mental and physical disabilities. People began to link this to Chisso, but since the area depended upon the company for income, nothing was done.

Later research showed that the company was draining mercury, which is highly toxic, in to the sea. This entered the food chain, as people ate the fish caught in polluted water.

Current situation Neither the company nor the government took ant action until 1968, when it was admitted that the poisoning was caused by the pollution from Chisso. By 1997, more than 12,000 people in Minamata were recognised as victims of mercury poisoning, although that number does not include those who had died before 1968.

Mercury is now recognised as a poisonous substance. Yet it is used in the rivers of Amazon, the Philippines and the East Africa to take gold out of the sand. Hence the suffering caused by mercury poisoning continues