Chemical Pollution, Japan’s Minimata Bay

"In the 1950's, one of the most severe incidents of industrial pollution and mercury poisoning occurred in the small seaside town of Minamata, Japan. A local petrochemical and plastics company, Chisso Corporation, dumped an estimated 27 tons of methyl mercury into the Minamata Bay over a period of 37 years. Mercury was used as a catalyst in the production of acetaldehyde, a chemical employed in the production of plastics. Methyl mercury-contaminated wastewater, a byproduct of the process, was pumped into the bay, creating a highly toxic environment that contaminated local fish....The high contamination levels in the people of Minamata led to severe neurological damage and killed more than 900 people. An estimated 2 million people from the area suffered health problems or were left permanently disabled from the contamination (McCurry, 2006). This form of toxicity in humans is now called Minamata disease (Honda et al., 2006)."