ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES

WATER POLLUTION

PREPARED BY
ANISHA LALU
ROLL NO:7
I.E.S COLLEGE OF ARCHITECTURE
MINAMATA DISASTER
LOCATION : MINAMATA BAY,JAPAN
PERIOD : 1908 TO ……….
REASON : EXPANSION OF CHISSO COMPANY TO MINAMATA,RELEASE OF METHYL
MERCURY TO MINAMATA BAY
THE HISTORY(1908-1955)
• THE CHISSO CORPORATION OPENED A CHEMICAL FACTORY IN MINAMATA IN 1908.
• MINAMATA IS A CITY LOCATED KUMAMOTO PREFECTURE, JAPAN.
• CHISSO CHEMICAL FACTORY INITIALLY PRODUCED FERTILIZERS.
• FOLLOWING THE NATIONWIDE EXPANSION OF JAPAN’S CHEMICAL INDUSTRY, THE
COMPANY BRANCHED OUT INTO THE PRODUCTION OF ACETYLENE, ACETALDEHYDE,
ACETIV ACID, VINYL CHLORIDE AND OCTANOL.
• THE MINAMATA FACTORY BECAME THE MOST ADVANCED IN ALL OF JAPAN.

THE RAPID EXPANSION OF THE MINAMATA FACTORY SPURRED ON THE LOCAL

ECONOMY.
•CHISSO PROSPERRED, SO DID MINAMATA.
•CHISSO HAD GREAT INFLUENCE ON MINAMATA.
•IN 1932, CHISSO MINAMATA FACTORY FIRST STARTED ACETALDEHYDE PRODUCTION.
–PRODUCING 210 TONS PER YEAR.
•BY 1951, PRODUCTION HAD JUMPED TO 6000 TONS PER YEAR.
–OVER HALF OF JAPAN’S TOTAL OUTPUT.
• THE CHEMICAL REACTION USED TO PRODUCE THE ACETADEHYDE USED
MERCURY SULPHATE AS CATALYST.
• • A SIDE REACTION OF THE CATALYTIC CYCLE LED TO THE PRODUCTION OF METHYL
MERCURY.
• • METHYL MERCURY IS AN ORGANIC MERCURY COMPOUND.
• • METHYL MERCURY IS A HIGHLY TOXIC COMPONENT.
• • WASTE WATER FROM CHISSO FACTORY WERE RELEASED INTO MINAMATA BAY.
 MERCURY CYCLE

METHYLMERCURY IS ABSORBED 100% INTO THE SYSTEM THROUGH THE

INTESTINES WITH ORAL INTAKE.
1956 - 1959
• • APRIL 21, 1956, A FIVE YEAR OLD GIRL WAS EXAMINED AT CHISSO’S FACTORY
HOSPITAL IN MINAMATA.
• • PHYSICIANS WERE PUZZLED BY HER SYMPTOMS:
– DIFFICULTY IN WALKING, SPEAKING AND CONVULSIONS.
• • FEW DAYS LATER, EIGHT YEARS OLD GIRL IN THE NEIGHBOURHOOD WAS FOUND
EXPERIENCING THE SIMILAR PROBLRMS.
• • ON MAY 1, 1956, DISCOVERY OF AN “EPIDEMIC OF UNKNOWN DISEASE OF
THE CENTRAL NERVOUS SYSTEM” WAS REPORTED TO THE LOCAL PUBLIC HEALTH.

1956 - 1959
• CATS WERE ALSO SEEN TO HAVE CONVULSIONS, GO MAD AND DIE,DISEASE IN CATS WERE
COMMONLY CALLED AS DANCING CAT FEVER.
• CROWS FELL FROM THE SKY.
• FISHES FLOATED DEAD ON THE SEA SHORE.
• THE KUMAMOTO UNIVERSITY RESEARCH GROUP WAS FORMED.
• THE DISEASE DEVELOPED WITHOUT PRIOR WARNING.
• PATIENTS LOST SENSATION, AND COMPLAINED OF NUMBNESS IN
HANDS AND FEET.
• BY OCTOBER, 1956, 40 PATIENTS WERE DISCOVERED(14 DEAD).
• THE RESEARCHERS FIGURED THE FOLLOWING:
• • STAPLE FOOD OF THE VICTIMS WERE FISH AND SHELLFISH FROM MINAMATA BAY.
• • FOOD POISONING BY HEAVY METALS.
• • INITIALLY, MANGANESE WAS THOUGHT TO BE THE CAUSE SUBSTANCE.
• • BRITISH NEUROLOGIST DOUGLAS MCALPINE SUGGESTED THE MINAMATA SYMPTOMS
RESEMBLED TO THOSE OF ORGANIC MERCURY.
• • FOCUS OF INVESTIGATION SHIFTED AND CENTERED MERCURY.

HAIR SAMPLES OF VICTIMS AND MINAMATA

RESIDENTS WERE TAKEN FOR TEST.
• THE MAXIMUM MERCURY LEVEL RECORDED WAS
705 PPM.
• THIS COMPARED TO TO AN AVERAGE LEVEL OF 4
PPM FOR NON – MINAMATA
RESIDENTS.

THE HIGHEST CONCENTRATION

CENTERED AROUND THE
FACTORY WASTEWATER
CANAL IN HYAKKEN HARBOUR
 CHISSO CAME UNDER CLOSE SCRUTINY.
• IN ORDER TO DEFLECT CRITICISM, WASTEWATER ROUTE WAS CHANGED.
• IT DISCHARGED WASTE WATER DIRECTLY INTO MINAMATA RIVER.
• NOW VICTIMS BEGAN TO APPEAR IN OTHER FISHING VILLAGES UP AND DOWN
THE COAST OF THE SHIRAUNI SEA.

• CHISSO DID NOT CO-OPERATE WITH THE KUMAMOTO RESEARCH TEAM.

• • WITHHELD INFORMATION ON ITS INDUSTRIAL PROCESSES.
• • CHISSO FACTORY’S HOSPITAL DIRECTOR, HAJIME HOSOKAWA CARRIED OUT HIS OWN
EXPERIMENT ON MINAMATA DISEASE.
• • HE CONFIRMED THAT IT WAS ORGANIC MERCURY POISONING.
• • THE COMPANY DID NOT REVEAL THE RESULT TO THE INVESTIGATORS.
• • THE COMPANY OREDERD HOSOKAWA TO STOP THE RESEARCH.
WASTEWATER TREATMENT SYSTEM
• • ON OCTOBER, 21, CHISSO WAS ORDERED TO SWITCH BACK ITS WASTEWATER DRAINAGE
TO HYAKKEN HARBOUR.
• • INSTALLED A CYCLATOR PURIFICATION SYSTEM WITH A SPECIAL CEREMONY.
• • CHISSO’S PRESIDENT DRANK A GLASS OF WATER SUPPOSEDLY TREATED TO
DEMONSTRATE IT WAS SAFE.
• • BUT WASTEWATER FROM ACETALDEHYDE PLANT STILL CONTAINED MERCURY.
• • DECEPTION THAT COMPANY’S WASTEWATER HAS BEEN MADE SAFE.
• • IN PEOPLE’S, THE ISSUE OF MINAMATA DISEASE WAS RESOLVED…
• SOCIAL IMPACT OF MINAMATA POLLUTION
• • STIGMATIZATION AND DISCRIMINATION AGAINST PATIENTS.
• • NEGATIVE IMAGE – “THE CITY OF POLLUTION”
• • RIOT AND SOCIAL UNREST.
• • SOCIAL AWARENESS ABOUT THE DISEASE

CHISSO’S PRESIDENT SHIMADA, PERFORMED

JAPANESE RITUAL OF SHAME AND APOLOGY BY
TOUCHING HIS FOREHEAD ON THE GROUND.
• 1959 - 1969
• • THE PERIOD BETWEEN THE FIRST SET OF AGREEMENTS IN 1959 TO THE FIRST LEGAL
ACTION TAKEN AGAINST CHISSO IN 1969 ARE IS CALLED AS THE “TEN YEARS OF SILENCE”
• • BY LATE 1960, THE KUMAMOTO AND KAGOSHIMA PERFECTURAL GOVERNMENT
CONTINUED A JOINT SURVEY IN THE HAIRS OF THE PEOPLE LIVING AROUND THE SHIRANUI
SEA.
• • RESULTS SHOWED THAT ORGANIC MERCURY HAD SPREAD ALL AROUND THE INLAND SEA.
1959 - 1969
CONTINUED POLLUTION
• CONTAMINATED FISH STILL POISONED PEOPLE.
• 50 PPM OF MERCURY IN PEOPLE’S HAIR WERE DISCOVERED.
• HIGHEST RECORDED LEVEL WAS 920 PPM
• THE PERFECTURAL GOVERNMENT DID NOT PUBLISH THE RESULTS, NOR DID
ANYTHING IN RESPONSE TO THE SURVEY.
• A FOLLOW-UP STUDY TEN YEARS LATER DISCOVERED THAT MANY HAD DIED
FROM “UNKNOWN CAUSES”
1959 - 1969
CONGENITAL MINAMATA DISEASE
• LOCAL DOCTORS NOTICED FOR A LONG TIME AN ABNORMAL HIGH FREQUENCY OF CEREBRAL PALSY.
• A RE-EXAMINATION OF CHILDREN DIAGNOSED WITH CEREBRAL PALSY WAS CARRIED OUT.
• THE SYMPTOMS OF THE CHILDREN CLOSELY MIRRORED THOSE OF ADULT MINAMATA DISEASE PATIENTS.
• HOWEVER, MANY OF THEIR MOTHERS DID NOT EXHIBIT SYMPTOMS.
• AFTER SEVERAL YEARS OF STUDY AND AUTOPSY OF TWO CHILDREN, THE DOCTORS DIAGNOSED AN
UNRECOGNIZED CONGENITAL FORM OF MINAMATA DISEASE.
Remedial measures
• MEASURES AGAINST MINAMATA POLLUTION
• EFFLUENT CONTROL
• • DRAINAGE OF THE CHISSO’S FACTORY EFFLUENT (CONTAINING METHYLMERCURY)
• TO MINAMATA BAY GOT REGULATED.
• • IN 1970, “WATER POLLUTION CONTROL LAW” WAS ENACTED.
• • THE LAW ENFORCED CONTROL OF DISCHARGE OF EFFLUENT IN ALL WATER AREAS IN
• JAPAN, IN RELATION TO TOXIC SUBSTANCES.
• • CONVERSION OF PRODUCTION METHOD WAS ADVISED AGAINST CAUSTIC SODA
• PLANTS THAT MIGHT DISCHARGE MERCURY.
ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT OF MINAMATA POLLUTION
• HUGE QUANTITIES OF MERCURY DETECTED IN FISH AND SHELLFISH IN
MINAMATA BAY.
• ECOLOGY OF THE MINAMATA BAY WAS SEVERELY AFFECTED.
• DREDGING AND RECLAMATION DONE TO REMOVE TOXIC SLUDGE FROM THE
MINAMATA BAY.

ECONOMIC IMPACT OF MINAMATA POLLUTION

• DRASTIC DROP IN FISHING SALES, CAUSING LOSS OF LIVELIHOOD.
• JOBLESSNESS LEADING TO HIGH POVERTY RATE.
• COMPENSATION LEAVES CHISSO CORPORATION IN HUGE DEBT.
SALIENT FEATURES OF NDMA GUIDELINES FOR MAN‐MADE HAZARDS
SALIENT FEATURES ON PREVENTION, PREPAREDNESS AND MITIGATION OF
RESPECTIVE DISASTERS
1 CHEMICAL TERRORISM
DISASTERS(CTD) MANAGEMENT PREVENTION AND PREPAREDNESS FOR AN EMERGENCY
RESPONSE AT THE INCIDENT SITE REQUIRES PROTECTION, DETECTION, AND
DECONTAMINATION. THE CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER WILL BE THE MAIN COORDINATOR FOR
THE MANAGEMENT OF CTD.
THE NODAL MINISTRY FOR CTD AND FOR CHEMICAL ACCIDENTS WILL ORGANISE NECESSARY
ACTIVITIES TO DEVELOP A COMMON INFORMATION PLATFORM FOR A SUFFICIENTLY
ROBUST NETWORKING SYSTEM, AS PART OF THE DM PLANS. NODAL AND LINE MINISTRIES
AT THE CENTRAL LEVEL AND DEPARTMENTS OF HEALTH, SDMAS AND DDMAS AT THE STATE
OR DISTRICT LEVEL WILL IDENTIFY THE VARIOUS REQUIREMENTS OF CRITICAL
INFRASTRUCTURE TO BE DEVELOPED WITH PPP MODELS TO MITIGATE THE IMPACT OF CTD.
MITIGATION
􀂃 COUNTER‐TERRORISM STRATEGIES, RISK AND VULNERABILITY ASSESSMENT,
CHEMOSURVEILLANCE,
AND ENVIRONMENTAL MONITORING ARE REQUIRED FOR THE MITIGATION OF CTD BY
AUTHORITIES RECOMMENDED BY NDMA.
􀂃 A BUFFER ZONE TO BE DEFINED TO SUCH INDUSTRIES, WHICH ARE VULNERABLE FOR
CTD. DEVELOPMENT IN SUCH ZONES SHOULD BE RESTRICTED, WHICH SHOULD BE
COVERED IN DEVELOPMENT PLANNING.
MITIGATION
• LEGISLATION ON LAND‐USE POLICY (BUFFER ZONE AROUND CHEMICAL INDUSTRY),
• STANDARDISATION OF NATIONAL CODES AND PRACTISES, PREPARATION OF ON‐SITE
• RUNOFF COEFFICIENT OF UP TO 0.95 IN USING RATIONAL METHOD TAKING
• INTO ACCOUNT THE APPROVED LAND‐USE PLAN.
• RAINWATER HARVESTING AS AN INTEGRAL COMPONENT OF THE BUILDING.
• ENCROACHMENTS ON DRAINS AND IN FLOODPLAINS WILL BE REMOVED BY
• PROVIDING ALTERNATIVE ACCOMMODATION TO THE POOR PEOPLE.
• LOW‐LYING AREAS SHOULD BE RESERVED FOR PARKS AND OTHER LOWIMPACT
• HUMAN ACTIVITIES.
• STORM WATER DRAINAGE CONCERNS WILL BE MADE A PART OF ALL
• ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT ASSESSMENT NORMS.
Source:224 URDPFI GUIDELINES, 2014. MINISTRY OF URBAN DEVELOPMENT
SUSTAINABILITY GUIDELINES
.
PREVENTION AND PREPAREDNESS
• STRENGTHENING OF THE PRESENT REGULATORY FRAMEWORK TO MEET THE DEFINED
NATIONAL POLICIES AND ASPIRATIONS; AUGMENTATION OF TECHNICAL SUPPORT
FUNCTIONS, A SUPPORTIVE AND TECHNOLOGY NEUTRAL REGULATION FRAMEWORK.
• SPECIFIC ROLES AND RESPONSIBILITIES OF MAH UNITS, TRANSPORTERS, DRIVERS,
AUTHORITIES AND ASPECTS RELATED TO EMERGENCY COMMUNICATION SYSTEMS
AND TRAINING OF VARIOUS STAKEHOLDERS.
• PREPARATION OF CRISIS MANAGEMENT PLAN BY THE HOSPITALS, CONCEPT OF
MOBILE HOSPITAL AND MOBILE TEAMS, PLANNING FOR AND REGULAR TESTING OF
EMERGENCY PLAN, ESTABLISHING POST‐DISASTER DOCUMENTATION PROCEDURES,
EPIDEMIOLOGICAL SURVEYS AND MINIMUM CRITERIA FOR RELIEF AND
REHABILITATION.
Reference

• https://www.env.go.jp/chemi/tmms/pr-m/mat01/en_full.pdf
• https://www.slideshare.net/iyaselex/mercury-pollution