Minimata Disease and The Photography of W Eugene Smith

Martin Donohoehttp://www.publichealthandsocialjustice.org

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

• 2578 official cases in Minamata Bay (almost 1800 dead); many 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

– 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