Mercury dispersion from Minamata Bay to the Yatsushiro Sea during 1975-1980.
Nearly three decades have passed since the first outbreak of Minamata disease (methyl mercury poisoning). Since then, the Japanese government has taken the position that mercury contamination is occurring only within Minamata Bay, and commercial and sport fishing has been prohibited only within the bay. However, about 30 tons of mercury has quietly been moving into the Yatsushiro Sea, although most of the mercury (150 tons) which was released (and which induced the disease) has been deposited with bed sediments within Minamata Bay. Observations from 1975 to 1980 confirm that the dispersion of the mercury from the bay into Yatsushiro Sea is imminent and that the average concentration of mercury in bed sediments has increased 315% between 1975 and 1980 in the Yatsushiro Sea.[1]References
- Mercury dispersion from Minamata Bay to the Yatsushiro Sea during 1975-1980. Kudo, A., Miyahara, S. Ecotoxicol. Environ. Saf. (1984) [Pubmed]
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