Mercury still subtly hazardous

In the 1950s, the Japanese fishing village of Minamata was hit by an inexplicable outbreak of health problems-from vision loss and paralysis in adults to physical deformities and cerebral palsy in newborn babies. The cause of the villagers’ mysterious symptoms was eventually traced to mercury poisoning. The villagers had unknowingly received exceptionally high doses of mercury through fish they ate from Minamata Bay, where a chemical plant had been dumping the pollutant for years. The experience revealed for the first time that mercury can move up the food chain to people. More than 50 years later, mercury-contaminated fish remain a human health issue. Fish consumption, in fact, is the primary way people are exposed to mercury, although most such exposures are at considerably lower levels than those of Minamata and generally... [read full story]                    

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