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The four big pollution diseases of Japan refers to a group of man-made diseases caused by environmental pollution due to the improper handling of industrial waste by Japanese corporations. The diseases are Itai-itai disease, Minamata disease, Niigata Minamata disease, and Yokkaichi asthma. These diseases emerged between the 1910s and 1960s, a time of rapid economic growth and industrialization in Japan, and had a significant impact on the health of the affected populations, setting precedents for environmental activism and legal action against polluters.
| Characteristics | Values |
|---|---|
| Name of the Diseases | Itai-itai disease, Minamata disease, Niigata Minamata disease, and Yokkaichi asthma |
| Cause of the Diseases | Environmental pollution due to improper handling of industrial wastes by Japanese corporations |
| Symptoms | Painful and debilitating symptoms, insanity, death |
| Affected Areas | Yokkaichi City, Minamata, Jinzu River, Niigata, Toyama Prefecture |
| Impact | Increase in respiratory problems, damage to plants and animals, health damage, economic impact |
| Response | Lawsuits, publicity, creation of the Environmental Agency, compensation payments, clean-up efforts, increased public awareness, changes in industrial practices |
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What You'll Learn
Itai-itai disease
The disease was first reported in 1912, and it took 55 years for epidemiological investigations to discover that it was due to cadmium poisoning. The source of the cadmium was traced to mining companies in the mountains, who released the toxic metal into rivers. The worst-affected areas were 30 kilometres downstream of the mines. The residents, unaware of the dangers of cadmium, used the contaminated water from the Jinzū River to irrigate their rice fields, leading to high levels of cadmium in the rice and drinking water. This resulted in elevated cadmium body burdens in the local residents, causing the symptoms of itai-itai disease.
Medical tests began in the 1940s and 1950s to identify the cause of the disease. Initially, lead poisoning was suspected due to lead mining upstream. However, in 1955, Dr. Hagino and his colleagues proposed cadmium as the likely culprit. In 1968, the Ministry of Health and Welfare officially confirmed that itai-itai disease was caused by cadmium poisoning. The reduction of cadmium levels in the water supply led to a decrease in new cases, and no new cases have been recorded since 1946.
Remediation efforts in the affected regions began in 1972 and were mostly complete by 2012. The monetary costs of the cleanup were shared by Japan's national government, Mitsui Mining, and the Gifu and Toyama prefectural governments. The long delay in addressing the pollution and its health impacts was a common issue in Japan's "four big pollution diseases".
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Minamata disease
The disease caused a range of symptoms, including ataxia, numbness in the hands and feet, general muscle weakness, loss of peripheral vision, and damage to hearing and speech. In extreme cases, insanity, paralysis, coma, and death could occur within weeks of the onset of symptoms. A congenital form of the disease affected fetuses, causing microcephaly, extensive cerebral damage, and symptoms similar to cerebral palsy. The outbreak also had a significant impact on wildlife, with reports of cats convulsing, behaving erratically, and dying, as well as dead fish floating on the surface of the sea and the disappearance of seaweed from the seabed.
The cause of the disease was initially a mystery, and it was first suspected to be contagious, leading to the isolation of patients and disinfection of their homes. However, researchers from Kumamoto University (Kumadai) discovered that the victims were often members of the same family and consumed fish and shellfish from Minamata Bay. They also found that cats in these areas, who ate similar foods, presented similar symptoms. This led to the conclusion that the disease was caused by food poisoning from contaminated seafood. On November 4, the research group announced its initial findings, suggesting that Minamata disease was caused by heavy metal poisoning, likely entering the human body through the consumption of contaminated fish and shellfish.
The Japanese government officially acknowledged Chisso's mercury-contaminated effluent as the cause in 1968, the same year that an economical mercury-free option for manufacturing acetaldehyde became available. Chisso decided to stop dumping its byproducts into the bay in 1966 and has since provided compensation payments to certified patients of Minamata disease. The Japanese government also took on the task of cleaning Minamata Bay, removing contaminated sludge and using non-contaminated soil to reclaim the area. In 1997, after fourteen years and $359 million, the Governor of Kumamoto Prefecture declared Minamata Bay safe.
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Niigata Minamata disease
The disease was caused by methylmercury poisoning in the Agano River basin. The source of the methylmercury was the wastewater from mercury-sulphate-catalysed acetaldehyde production at the Showa Electrical Company's chemical plant in Kanose village. The highly toxic compound was released untreated into the Agano River, where it bioaccumulated in fish, which were then eaten by local people. The first patient was diagnosed in January 1965 by Dr. Koichi Hirota, a neurologist at the Brain Research Institute of Niigata University. Over 1500 people were exposed to the disease, with 690 people from the Agano River basin certified as patients.
The outbreak was discovered when cats living along the banks of the Agano River began to display strange symptoms and die. These symptoms eventually began to appear in people, and in April and May 1965, Professor Tadao Tsubaki of Niigata University examined two patients, suspecting Minamata disease. One patient's hair was found to have a mercury level of 390 ppm. On 31 May, he reported an outbreak of organic mercury poisoning in the Agano River basin to the prefectural government, and his findings were made public on 12 June.
The response to the outbreak by Showa Denko, the polluting company, was similar to that of Chisso, the company responsible for the original Minamata disease outbreak. They attempted to discredit the researchers and proposed their own theory, suggesting that the cause was an "agricultural chemical run-off" that had entered the river after the 1964 Niigata earthquake. However, unlike in the original Minamata incident, the local community was more supportive of the patients' groups, and a lawsuit was filed against the company in March 1968. The Niigata lawsuit was filed only three years after the outbreak was made public, compared to the 13 years it took for the first lawsuit to be filed in Minamata.
The events in Niigata catalysed a change in response to the original Minamata incident. The scientific research and subsequent lawsuit against the polluting company allowed for a re-examination of the Minamata incident and the consideration of similar responses.
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Yokkaichi asthma
The onset of Yokkaichi asthma was marked by a rapid increase in cases of the aforementioned respiratory diseases among the local inhabitants, particularly in the Isozu and Shiohama districts closest to the factories, and among males over 50. Citizens complained of offensive odours and white smog emanating from the petrochemical plants, filling the skies of Yokkaichi. These symptoms were confirmed to be caused by sulfur oxide pollution, with a study in 1985 by the Journal of Environmental Health finding a correlation between decreasing air quality and increasing mortality rates for bronchial asthma and chronic bronchitis.
The impact of Yokkaichi asthma was significant, with a 2008 study showing a 10 to 20-fold higher mortality rate from COPD and asthma in the affected populations of Yokkaichi compared to the general population of Mie Prefecture. The disease also led to several suicides, with some individuals attributing their deaths to the disease in their suicide notes. The pollution problem was eventually solved in the 1970s, however, the late effects of air pollution continued to impact the mortality and life expectancy of patients with Yokkaichi asthma even into the 2000s.
In 1967, a group of Yokkaichi asthma victims filed a lawsuit against six companies operating in the complex, including oil refiners and petrochemical manufacturers. The court ruled in favour of the plaintiffs in 1972, ordering the defendants to pay compensatory damages. This marked a turning point in acknowledging the health impacts of pollution and set a precedent for addressing environmental issues in Japan.
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Caused by industrial waste
The four big pollution diseases of Japan were all caused by industrial waste and environmental pollution due to the improper handling of waste by Japanese corporations. The first, Itai-itai disease, occurred in 1912, with the other three (Minamata disease, Niigata Minamata disease, and Yokkaichi asthma) occurring in the 1950s and 1960s.
Itai-itai disease was caused by the Mitsui Mining & Smelting Company polluting the Jinzugawa river with cadmium. The name of the disease comes from the phrase "itai-itai", meaning "it hurts", which was frequently cried out by victims due to the pain caused by the disease. Most victims were bedridden, as walking caused severe pain. Mitsui Mining formally admitted fault and paid recovery costs for the land, ensuring it was returned to a safe and cultivable state.
Minamata disease was caused by the Chisso factory polluting Minamata Bay with mercury. This resulted in citizens developing a neurological disease that caused them to exhibit abnormal behaviour and lose control of their bodies. The food eaten by citizens was all sourced from the bay, leading to many people being affected by the disease. The Japanese government acknowledged Chisso's mercury-contaminated effluent as the cause of the disease in 1968, and today Chisso makes compensation payments to all certified patients of Minamata disease.
Niigata Minamata disease was caused by methylmercury poisoning in the Agano River basin. Showa Denko, a factory upstream on the Agano River, produced methylmercury as a byproduct and dumped it into the river. Showa Denko was found guilty of negligence and forced to pay compensation to those affected by the disease.
Yokkaichi asthma was caused by the construction of an oil refinery in Yokkaichi city, which was not equipped with machines to lower sulfur dioxide emissions. As a result, sulfur dioxide was released into the air, leading to an increase in respiratory problems in the general population of Yokkaichi and neighbouring districts. This form of asthma was prevalent in Yokkaichi, with 5-10% of inhabitants aged 40 suffering from chronic bronchitis, compared to less than 3% in non-polluted areas.
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Frequently asked questions
The four big pollution-related diseases of Japan are Minamata disease, Niigata Minamata disease, Yokkaichi asthma, and Itai-itai disease.
The four diseases were caused by environmental pollution due to the improper handling of industrial waste by Japanese corporations.
Minamata disease was identified as heavy metal poisoning, specifically methylmercury poisoning, transmitted by the ingestion of contaminated fish from Minamata Bay. Niigata Minamata disease was caused by methylmercury poisoning in the Agano River basin. Yokkaichi asthma was caused by sulfur dioxide emissions from a nearby refinery. Itai-itai disease was a collection of painful and debilitating symptoms that broke out among inhabitants of the Jinzū River basin in Toyama Prefecture.
The four big pollution diseases of Japan had a significant impact on the country and its people. They set the stage for environmental activism and led to the creation of the Environmental Agency in 1971. The diseases also resulted in lawsuits, increased public awareness, and changes in industrial practices, with a decline in the incidence of such diseases after the 1970s.
