The Minamata disease tragedy and fight for justice continues today. There are multiple lawsuits currently in the courts filed by victims against the polluter, Chisso, the Japanese government, and Kumamoto and Kagoshima prefectural governments. The authorities have yet to recognize many victims who were poisoned. The criteria for certifying Minamata disease victims are outdated. They have not been updated for decades in spite of new knowledge, including the fact that very low levels of mercury can damage the fetus. A national law passed in Japan in 2009 requires that the government undertake a comprehensive epidemiological study of the areas affected by the mercury pollution. The government has yet to undertake such a study. Well over half a century has passed since the official discovery of Minamata disease in 1956.
May 1st 2024 marked the 68th anniversary of the first official reporting of Minamata disease in Japan.
Minamata Disease, methylmercury poisoning caused by eating fish and shellfish contaminated by factory wastewater of the Chisso corporation’s Minamata factory in Kyushu, combined with a second outbreak in Niigata caused by wastewater from the Shōwa Denkō corporation’s plant, is Japan’s worst industrial pollution case. ,
To date over 30,000 people have sought relief for Minamata disease but fewer than 3,000 have been officially certified. Over 1,600 applications are pending but only one person has been officially certified during the last few years. Roughly 74,000 people have received or are receiving some type of relief.
Acute cases of the poisoning involve brain damage causing severe sensory disturbance, ataxia, constriction of the visual field, convulsions and often death. Chronic cases of Minamata disease involve sensory disturbance and many other ills. Because organic mercury crosses the placenta barrier, fetuses were poisoned in their mother’s womb, leading to congenital cases of Minamata disease.
In September 2004, after a 22-year fight, Minamata disease victims won a Supreme Court case which legally substantiated the fact that the Japanese government and Kumamoto prefecture were responsible for the spread of Minamata disease. Another court verdict found that the government criteria for certifying Minamata disease had “no medical basis.”
The Japanese government has never undertaken a health study of the contaminated areas to find out the full extent of damage. A law passed in 2009 requires that the government undertake such a study. It is estimated that at least 200,000 people were exposed to the methylmercury contamination from Chisso’s plant. A former Kumamoto Prefecture governor (where most of the mercury contamination occurred) stated that 470,000 citizens should be studied for effects of mercury poisoning.
From the first court verdict of 1973 when the polluting company Chisso was found legally responsible for Minamata disease, to the 2004 Supreme Court verdict when the government was found legally responsible for having spread Minamata disease, to court cases that are ongoing, it is the victims that have opened the path for their own compensation.
Pollution victims fighting for their rights in Japan led the way to much stricter environmental legislation in Japan. People living in Japan owe much to these victims of Minamata disease and other environmental pollution.
Ten lawsuits are ongoing, including a lawsuit by victims who were toddlers at the peak of the pollution. Chisso and the Japanese government still do not recognize them as Minamata disease victims.
The year 2022 marked the 50th anniversary of the first United Nations Conference on the Human Environment held in Stockholm, Sweden (June 5-16, 1972).
The Minamata disease tragedy is the result of the unequal relationship between a powerful corporation and the citizens living in the region. It provides lessons for the future about how corporations and governments operate, how we relate to each other, humanity’s relationship to nature, and democratic movements.
No More Minamatas
The following was published in a flyer by IPEN (International Pollutants Elimination Network) and Green Action Japan and distributed to the audience at the premiere of the movie, Minamata, at the Berlin International Film Festival, February 2020.
Global mercury emissions have risen by a staggering 20% over the last 5 years with no reduction in sight. If we are going to curb mercury pollution, we must end the global mercury trade.
What happened in Minamata?
For thirty years, the chemical company Chisso Corporation negligently dumped its mercury-laden wastewater into the Minamata Bay of Japan. Many people in communities surrounding the bay became ill with unusual neurological symptoms. As the mercury became bioavailable, fish became contaminated with mercury, thus poisoning people, who relied on a fish-protein diet. Minamata disease was not officially recognized to be caused by industrial pollution from methyl mercury until 1968. Victims organized to force Chisso and the government to take responsibility for this massive environmental health catastrophe. The photojournalism of Eugene and Aileen Smith intimately captured the tragedy and brought global attention to the industrial crime and the impacted families when the photos were published in LIFE magazine in 1972 and as the book MINAMATA in 1975.
The Fossil Fuel and Gold Industries are the Leading Industrial Polluters of Mercury
Were the victims recognized and compensated?
Surviving victims of mercury poisoning from Minamata Bay are alive today. Many people were affected when they were developing in utero and their mothers ate mercury contaminated fish. Most of the 200,000 people living in the polluted area at the peak of the pollution were never recognized by the government and many not have received compensation, despite having symptoms. It has now been 64 years since the official discovery of Minamata disease, but government authorities still refuse to undertake a health survey. Multiple lawsuits are ongoing, with victims fighting for recognition and relief. Victims and supporters are negotiating intensely with the Minister of the Environment to end Japanese government stonewalling and are promoting international efforts at the UN to prevent more Minamatas.
Effects of Mercury Pollution
Mercury is a persistent and highly toxic substance. It is so toxic in fact that mercury exposure can cause severe brain damage, kidney and cardiovascular system damage, and even death at very low levels. Just 1 part per million (ppm) of mercury exposure is associated with a 0.18 decrease in IQ level. The most dramatic harm takes place when expectant mothers are exposed to mercury, because mercury’s most potent neurological impacts occur during fetal development.
The struggle for justice in Minamata and the struggle of communities around the world against polluting industries continues today.
What are the greatest threats of Mercury Pollution today?
The fossil fuel industry and gold industry are among the leading industrial polluters of mercury. Here are the top threats of mercury pollution and exposure:
- Coal-fired Power Plants: The fossil fuel industry is responsible for climate change as well as mercury pollution. In addition to greenhouse gases, coal-fired power plants release mercury-laden emissions into the air that contaminate water ways and oceans, and accumulate in fish. Oil and gas extraction facilities and refineries likewise release mercury pollution into the air, land, and oceans.
- Artisanal Small-scale Gold Mining (ASGM): Gold mining with mercury is an extremely hazardous process that sickens miners, their families and communities, and deprives their children of a future. Miners use mercury to extract gold from the soil, and it is often women who mix mercury with ore and then burn amalgams in their kitchens or yards. The mercury vapor released when an amalgam is heated (separating the mercury from gold) is highly toxic. According to the United Nations Environment Agency, approximately 15 million people in over 70 countries engage in small-scale gold mining for their livelihood—practices that mainly use mercury.
- Local Contaminated Industrial Sites, including chlor-alkali plants (industrial chlorine production), release mercury to soil, water, and air.
How is Mercury Pollution connected to the current Climate Crisis?
Mercury from coal-fired power plants is a pollution twin to greenhouse gases. Mercury in coal ore is vaporized as coal burns. Atmospheric mercury travels over long distances before falling back to earth. Often it falls into oceans where bacteria transform it into highly toxic methylmercury. Methylmercury moves up the food chain and biomagnifies as larger fish eat smaller ones. Mercury contamination in fish has forced health agencies to issue advisories for fish consumption—especially for pregnant women. Women living in areas dependent on a diet high in fish protein, such as the people of many small island nations, have higher levels of mercury in their bodies—levels that can affect fetal development. Mercury deposits are also frozen in the arctic permafrost. As the planet heats up, unsustainable amounts of mercury will be released into the atmosphere.
How Can We End Mercury Pollution?
The Minamata Convention on Mercury entered into force in 2017. Ratified by 114 countries, including the US, the treaty was intended to reduce globally rising levels of mercury pollution to protect human health and the environment. Unfortunately, far from shrinking toxic mercury, global mercury emissions have risen by a staggering 20% over the last 5 years with no reduction in sight. Extensive lobbying by powerful energy and gold industry groups weakened the treaty. To end mercury we must curb coal-fired power and ban global mercury trade.
IPEN www.ipen.org @ipen_toxicsfree | Green Action www.greenaction-japan.org