1.3 Pathway of Methylmercury from factory to human
The source of the methylmercury was a chemical production factory that utilized mercury
as a catalyst in one of its processes. Surplus mercury was discharged via spill-water into a
close bay, and this mercury accumulated in bottom sediments. Microbes in the sediments
converted the mercury to methylmercury that eventually entered the food chain of fish and
resulted in very high methylmercury levels in the local fish. Methylmercury in fish is absorbed
in intestine and distributed through blood stream. Minamata had a substantial population of
small family fisheries, and these families were the most affected (JPHA, 2001).