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Minimata Disease and The Photography of W Eugene Smith
Martin Donohoehttp://www.publichealthandsocialjustice.org
Outline
• Introduction• Mercury and Methylmercury as
pollutants• Minimata Disease• W Eugene Smith – bio and photos
Mercury
• Syphilis Treatment- 15th Century onward- abandoned 1940 for penicillin
• Recognized as cause of disease in 19th Century (Hunter-Russell Syndrome)- chemists, hatters
Mercury
• Released into air by coal combustion, industrial processes, mining, and waste disposal–4500 tons/yr
• Travels throughout atmosphere and settles in oceans and waterways
Gold MiningGold = Cyanide + Mercury
• Mercury used to capture gold particles as an amalgam
• Gold leached from ore using cyanide–Cyanide paralyzes cellular respiration
• At least 18 tons of mine waste created to obtain the gold for a single 3 oz., 18k ring
Gold Mining and Mercury
• Contaminated groundwater often sits in large toxic lakes held in place by tenuous dams
• Release of cyanide and mercury into local waterways kills fish, harms fish-eating animals, and poisons drinking water
Mercury
• Bacteria convert it to toxic methylmercury (MeHg)
• Travels up food chain via fish• Long biological half-life
- 1-3 years in humans• Regulation inadequate– Allows “cap and trade”
Mercury
• 16% of women of childbearing age exceed the EPA’s “safe” mercury level
• Freshwater fish mercury levels too high for pregnant women to eat in 43 states
• Mercury dental amalgams pose health risks to pregnant women, unborn babies, and children (FDA Black Box Warning added 2009)
Minamata Bay
• Southern Japan• Shiranui Sea• Fishing village• Villagers: fisherman/Chisso Corporation
employees and their families
Chisso Corporation
• Established 1918• Produced acetaldehyde for plastics, drugs,
perfumes, photography• Mercury (Hg) catalyst• Byproduct = methylmercury, dumped into bay
(150 tons over 4 decades)• Dumped over 60 deadly poisons, including
vinyl chloride (cause of liver cancer)
Chronology of Chisso's Environmental Pollution
• 1925 - local fishing cooperative compensated for decreased catch
• 1950s - bizarre behavioral changes observed in birds, marine fish, land vertebrates; oysters vanish
• 1950s / 1960s - reports in Japanese medical journals about human cases
Chronology of Chisso's Environmental Pollution
• 1956 - cause (MeHg) of Minamata Disease elucidated
• 1958-60 - reports in English medical journals• 1959-69 - Dr. Hosokawa's experiments– Cat #400– Other studies
• 1959 cyclator added– Removed Hg, but not MeHg
Chronology of Chisso's Environmental Pollution
• 1965 - fishing banned in Minamata Bay after similar events noted in Niigata, Japan
• 1968 - all acetaldehyde-producing plants have ceased operating
• 1970 - Japan Water Pollution Control Act– Allowed no detectable Hg or MeHg in waste water
Chronology of Chisso's Environmental Pollution
• 1997 – Minimata Bay declared free of mercury
• 2004 – Japanese Supreme Court rules government shares responsibility for epidemic (government slow to react, cut off research funding in 1962)
Minimata Disease
• 3,000 official cases in Minamata Bay (almost 1800 dead); tens of thousands of unofficial cases; 10,000 received financial compensation
• Social stigma / Poor health care
Mercury: S/S, Dx, and Rx
• S/S: neuropsychiatric symptoms, excessive salivation/inflammation of gums, rash, nephropathy– Linked to autism
• Dx: mercury levels in air, blood, urine (>100 mcg/l in blood and/or urine = toxic)
• Rx: chelation with BAL, penicillamine, DMPS, DMSA
Minimata Disease:Signs and Symptoms
• Acute / Chronic Poisoning:– numbness, slurred speech, ataxia, unsteady gait,
deafness, poor vision, dysphagia, hypersalivation, confusion, drowsiness/stupor to irritability/restlessness; chronic liver disease, liver cancer, hypertension, autoimmune disorders
– death within a few months if severe
• Rx EDTA – only partially effective
Minimata Disease:Signs and Symptoms
• Congenital: high dose → infertility; medium dose → spontaneous abortions; low dose → congenital disease
• S/S: poor physical growth, mental retardation, impaired speech/chewing/swallowing, muscle tone abnormalities, involuntary movements, constricted visual fields
- EDTA not effective
Civil suit vs. Chisso (1969-73)
• Plaintiffs awarded $66,000 for deceased victims, $59,000 - $66,000 for survivors
• Precedent - Niigata suit versus Showa Denko
• $3.4 million paid out the first night, $80 million paid out by 1975
Civil suit vs. Chisso (1969-73)
• Dr. Hosokawa key witness (from deathbed)–Identity - company employee vs.
impartial physician with obligation to patients–Loyalty - company vs. to public
Reasons for Delayed Recognition and Action
• Science slow, unfunded/underfunded, corrupt
• Dissemination of knowledge slow• Social stigma of disease, fear of
contagion• Pressure from fisheries cooperative,
Chisso employees
Reasons for Delayed Recognition and Action
• Lack of local/world awareness of health effects of pollution
• Strong government-business links in Japan, employee loyalty strong
Decreasing Causes and Limiting Consequences of Mercury Pollution
• Phase out coal burning power plants• Hospitals phasing out mercury
thermometers• Stop buying gold (e.g., wedding rings)• Make healthy seafood purchases• Screen and treat when appropriate
Minimata Disease Memorial
W Eugene Smith
• Born 1918, Wichita, KS• Local news photographer at age 15• Turned down scholarship to Notre Dame
to study photography at NY Institute of Photography
• Worked for Newsweek, then Life, then Magnum
W Eugene Smith
• Married to Aileen Smith, photojournalist• Minimata: Final Assignment• Beaten by Chisso employees• Died 1978
Role of the Media in Promoting Awareness of Environmental Health Issues
• Books– Henrik Ibsen’s Enemy of the People– Upton Sinclair's The Jungle– Rachel Carson's Silent Spring
• Photography– W. Eugene and Aileen Smith's Minamata photoessay– Jacob Riis, Dorothea Lange, Sebastiao Salgado, James
Nachtwey, others• Film, TV
Contact Info, References
Martin Donohoemartindonohoe@phsj.org
This slide show and others available at http://www.publichealthandsocialjustice.org
http://www.phsj.org
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