Question

A disease caused by eating fish contaminated by industrial waste, containing mercury compounds, is called as

• A. osteosclerosis
• B. Hashimoto's disease
• C. Bright's disease
• D. Minamata disease.

Answer 1

The correct option is D Minamata disease.

Minamata disease is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning. Signs and symptoms include 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 follow within weeks of the onset of symptoms. A congenital form of the disease can also affect fetuses in the womb. Minamata disease was first discovered in Minamata city in Kumamoto prefecture, Japan, in 1956. It was caused by the release of methylmercury in the industrial wastewater from the Chisso Corporation's chemical factory, which continued from 1932 to 1968. This highly toxic chemical bioaccumulate in shellfish and fish in Minamata Bay and the Shiranui Sea, which, when eaten by the local population , resulted in mercury poisoning.

So the correct option is 'minamata disease'.