Japanese study raises new concerns about mercury poisoning among aboriginals
...when Harada returned to the area last fall, he found evidence of continuing, pervasive health problems consistent with Minamata disease, a neurological disorder caused by mercury.
The results of Harada's study have not been published but they were summarized by Steve Fobister Sr., deputy chief of the Grassy Narrows, who has seen them.
Of approximately 60 First Nations people who were examined at Grassy Narrows and Whitedog last fall, 70 per cent showed symptoms of neurological disorder, said Fobister.
Symptoms included blurred vision, slurred speech, twitching, numbness, shaking and poor muscle co-ordination. The symptoms of eight people who were part of the original study in the 1970s had become more severe.
Fobister says that he himself has serious neurological disease. "I can hardly tie my shoes any more," he said in an interview.
Even children in the community are showing serious
problems, including seizures, he said.
Fobister blames clearcut logging in the area for continuing high levels of mercury contamination -- a theory for which there is some scientific support although debate continues.
A University of Montreal researcher reported in 2001 that mercury levels were up to 100 per cent higher in heavily logged watersheds than in lakes where there was no logging nearby.
The theory is that airborne mercury from sources such as coal-fired power plants and incinerators tends to be held in the soil and foliage of an intact forest, but runs into waterways in areas that have been clearcut.
Canoe (CA) July 27, 2003
