New Minamata Disease in Amazon?ーNHK WORLD-JAPAN NEWS

Why It Matters

The contamination poses an imminent, intergenerational public-health and food-security crisis for vulnerable indigenous communities and creates urgent policy, enforcement and remediation challenges with long-term ecological and social costs.

Summary

Seventy years after Japan’s Minamata disaster, researchers warn a similar mercury poisoning crisis is unfolding in Brazil’s Amazon as illegal gold mining floods rivers with mercury. A seven-year study found elevated mercury in hair samples of pregnant women and neurological disorders in children and adults in affected indigenous communities, with symptoms and exposure levels correlating by region. Investigators estimate more than 150 tons of mercury are dumped into Amazon waterways annually, where it biomagnifies in fish— the primary protein source for local populations. Despite President Lula’s enforcement efforts, vast, remote mining operations and the long-lasting persistence of mercury in the environment make containment and remediation extremely difficult.

Original Description

70 years since Minamata disease was recognized by Japanese authorities, Brazil may now be experiencing a similar crisis as illegal gold miners contaminate rivers with mercury.

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