Abstract
The contamination of Minamata Bay with mercury compounds and the subsequent effects of this contamination on humans and animals who ate seafood from the bay have been described repeatedly elsewhere, but there are few publications which have focused on the physicochemical aspects of the situation and the nature and effectiveness of the work undertaken to restore the bay. This chapter briefly reviews the available English language literature on these subjects and is intended to allow for easier comparison with other similar sites which have not progressed as far in restoration work. Minamata Bay was severely contaminated with mercury from acetaldehyde and vinyl chloride plants between 1950 and 1968. While the predominant form of mercury discharged to the bay was inorganic, some may have been methylated and the origin of highly elevated concentrations in seafood. Somewhat lower but still unacceptably elevated levels of mercury in seafood persisted even after use of mercury at the plants was discontinued. Sediment contamination was mapped in detail in the early 1970s and led to a major dredging and containment project, which began in 1980, to restore the bay. All restoration was completed by 1990. Limited available data from monitoring of mercury in commercially important fish species appear to demonstrate a successful restoration.
This chapter was prepared while the second author held a Senior Research Associateship under the auspices of the National Research Council — US Environmental Protection Agency National Health and Environmental Effects Research Laboratory
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Barkay T, Turner RR, Saouter E, Horn J (1992) Mercury biotransformations and their potential for remediation of mercury contamination. Biodegradation 3: 147–159
Bloom NS, Coleman JA, Barber L (1996) Artifact formation of methyl mercury during extraction of environmental samples by distillation. Fresen J Anal Chem 358: 371–377
D’Itri FM (1991) Mercury contamination — what we have learned since Minamata. Environ Monit Assess 19: 165–182
D’Itri FM (1994) Minamata disease. In: Cunningham WP, Ball T, Cooper TH, Gorham E, Hepworth MT, Marcus AA (eds) Environmental encyclopedia. Gale Research, Detroit, Michigan, pp 521–522
D’Itri PA, D’Itri FM (1977) Mercury contamination: a human tragedy. Wiley-Interscience, John Wiley New York, 311 pp
Ellis D (1989) Environments at risk: case histories of impact assessment. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, 329 pp
Environmental Agency of Japan (1992) Our intensive efforts to overcome the tragic history of Minamata disease. Environmental Health Department, Environment Agency of Japan, 18 pp
Fujiki M, Tajima S (1973) The pollution of Minamata Bay and the neighboring sea by factory waste water containing mercury. In: Coulston F, Korte F, Goto M (eds) New methods in environmental chemistry and toxicology. International Academic Printing Co, Tokyo, pp 217–229
Fujiki M, Tajima S (1992) The pollution of Minamata Bay by mercury. Water Sci Technol 25: 133–140
Fujiki MR, Hirota R, Yamaguci S (1977) The mechanism of methyl mercury accumulation in fish. In: Management of bottom sediments containing toxic substances: Proc 2nd US–Japan Experts’ Meet, Oct 1976, Tokyo. EPA–600/3–77–083, pp 89–95
Fujino S (1977) Using sand to cover dredge spoils containing mercury. In: Management of bottom sediments containing toxic substances. Proc 2nd US–Japan Experts’ Meet Oct 1976, Tokyo. EPA–600/3–77–083, pp 144–154
Harada M (1982) Minamata disease. organic mercury poisoning caused by ingestion of contaminated fish. In: Jallife EFP, Jellife DB (eds) Adverse effects of foods. Plenum, New York, pp 134–148
Hosokawa Y (1993) Remediation work for mercury-contaminated bay sediments. Water Sci Technol 28: 339–348
Irukayama K (1966) The pollution of Minamata Bay and Minamata disease. In: Proc 3rd IAWPR Conf, vol 3, Munich, Germany, Pergamon Press, Oxford, pp 153–165
Ishikawa T, Ikegaki Y (1980) Control of mercury pollution in Japan and the Minamata Bay cleanup. Water Pollut Control Fed J 52: 1013–1018
Jensen S, Jernelov A (1969) Biological methylation of mercury in aquatic organisms. Nature 223: 753–754
Kudo A (1992) Natural and artificial mercury decontamination — Ottawa River and Minamata Bay (Yatsushiro Sea). Water Sci Technol 26: 217–226
Kudo A, Miyahara S (1984) Mercury dispersion from Minamata Bay to Yatsushiro Sea during 19751980. Ecotox Environ Safety 8: 507–510
Kudo A, Miyahara S (1988) Effect of decontamination project at Minamata Bay, Japan — dramatic decrease of mercury dispersed into Yatsushiro Sea. Ecotox Environ Safety 15: 339–343
Kudo A, Miyahara S (1991) A case history: Minamata mercury pollution in Japan — from loss of human lives to decontamination. Water Sci Technol 23: 283–290
Kudo A, Miyahara S (1992) Predicted restoration of the surrounding marine environment after an artificial mercury decontamination at Minamata Bay, Japan — economic values from natural and artificial processes. Water Sci Technol 25: 141–148
Kudo A, Miyahara S, Miller DR (1980) Movement of mercury from Minamata Bay into Yatsushiro Sea. Prog Water Technol 12: 509–524
Kumagai M, Nishimura H (1978) Mercury distribution in seawater in Minamata Bay and the origin of particulate matter. J Oceanogr Soc Jpn 34: 50–56
Lacerda LD, Salomons W (1991) Mercury in the Amazonia: a chemical time bomb. Report sponsored by the Dutch Ministry of Housing, Physical Planning and Environment. Chemical Time Bomb Project, The Netherlands, 46 pp
Liang L, Horvat M, Cernichiari E, Gelein B, Balogh S, Clarkson TW (1996) A simple solvent extraction technique for elimination of matrix interferences on determination of methyl mercury in environmental and biological samples by ethylation/GC/CVAFS. Talanta 43: 1883–1888
Mishima A (1992) Bitter sea — the human cost of Minamata disease. Kosei Publishing, Tokyo, 231 pp.
Miyahara S, Schintu M, Kauri T, Kudo T (1988) Twelve years of observations of mercury concentrations in Yatsushiro Sea ( Japan ). Water Sci Technol 20: 193–197
Nakanishi J (1992) Interview with Dr. Hirokatsu Akagi: the blind spot of mercury contamination survey. Water Rep 2: 8–10
Nakayama Y, Kyuma K, Hirota R, Fujiki (1992) Treatment of bottom sediment containing mercury and monitoring method using fishes. In: Management of bottom sediments containing toxic substances. Proc 13th US-Japan Experts’ meet, April 1992, Pub ADA 253 003, Water Resources Support Center, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, pp 1–22
Nishimura H, Kumagai M (1983) Mercury pollution of fishes in Minamata Bay and surrounding water: analysis of pathway of mercury. Water Air Soil Pollut 20: 401–411
Sakamoto H, Tomiyasu T, Yonehara N (1995) The contents and chemical forms of mercury in sediments from Kagoshima Bay, in comparison with Minamata Bay and Yatsushiro Sea, southwestern Japan. Geochem J 29: 97–105
Takizawa Y (1979) Epidemiology of mercury poisoning. In: Nriagu JO (ed) The biogeochemistry of mercury in environment. Elsevier-North Holland Biomedical Press, Amsterdam, pp 325–365
Wilken R-D, Wallschlaeger D (1996) The Elbe River: a special example for a European river contaminated heavily with mercury. In: Baeyens W, Ebinghaus R, Vasilier O (eds) Global and regional mercury cycles: sources, fluxes and mass balances. Kluwer, Dordrecht, pp 317–328
Yoshida T, Ikegaki Y (1977) A study of the behavior of mercury–contaminated sediments in Minamata Bay. In: Management of bottom sediments containing toxic substances. Proc znd US–Japan Experts’ meet, Oct 1976, Tokyo. EPA–600/3–77–083, pp 127–142
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1999 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kudo, A., Turner, R.R. (1999). Mercury Contamination of Minamata Bay: Historical Overview and Progress Towards Recovery. In: Ebinghaus, R., Turner, R.R., de Lacerda, L.D., Vasiliev, O., Salomons, W. (eds) Mercury Contaminated Sites. Environmental Science. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-03754-6_7
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-03754-6_7
Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg
Print ISBN: 978-3-642-08354-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-662-03754-6
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive