Question

Minamata disease is caused due to

• A. oil spills in sea
• B. biomagnification of DDT
• C. accumulation of arsenic
• D. biomagnification of mercury

Answer 1

The correct option is D biomagnification of mercury

Minamata disease is a severe neurological syndrome caused due to mercury poisoning.
Mercury compounds in waste water are converted by bacterial action into an extremely toxic compound, methyl mercury. Biomagnification of mercury into fishes and their consumption by humans through the food chain is responsible for large number of deaths due to Minamata disease. It is characterised by numbers of limbs, lips and tongue, deafness, blurred vision, mental retardation etc.