title: Expansion of methylmercury poisoning outside of Minamata: an epidemiological study on chronic methylmercury poisoning outside of Minamata.
abstract: The first methylmercury poisoning by consumption of fish arose in Minamata, Japan, in 1953. Methylmercury dispersed from Minamata to the Shiranui Sea until 1968. Mercury concentration in the hair of residents on the coast of the Shiranui Sea was 10 to 20 times higher than that in nonpolluted people in Kumamoto Prefecture in 1960. People on the coast of the Shiranui Sea have consumed fish containing low-dose methylmercury without a ban over decades until 1968. We studied the effect of long-term consumption of methylmercury on those people 10 years later after the end of methylmercury dispersion. Our epidemiological study clarified that people in a fishing village (Ooura) on the coast of the Shiranui Sea showed a significantly higher frequency of neurological signs characteristic of methylmercury poisoning (hypoesthesia, ataxia, impairment of hearing, visual change, and dysarthria) in comparison with people in a nonpolluted fishing village (Ichiburi). The neurological disorders were still detected 10 years later in Ooura after the end of methylmercury dispersion from Minamata; hypoesthesia showed the highest frequency in Ooura. These results suggest that people on the coast of the Shiranui Sea were afected by long-term dietary exposure to methylmercury.
authors.affiliation: Yoron Hospital, Yoron, Kagoshima, Japan.
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Ninomiya
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Ohmori
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hashimoto
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Tsuruta
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Ekino
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D002908:Chronic Disease; D005396:Fish Products / Q000032:analysis; D005506:Food Contamination; D006801:Humans; D006987:Hypesthesia / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008630:Mercury Poisoning / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D008767:Methylmercury Compounds / Q000032:analysis / Q000506:poisoning*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009422:Nervous System Diseases / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000453:epidemiology
chemical_list: D008767:Methylmercury Compounds