Mercury analysis manual which is made by Ministry of the Environment in 2004.

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National Institute for Minamata Disease

(Background)

An investigation into the Methyl Mercury concentration levels in hair samples was performed at the request of Taiji-cho, Higashimuro-Gun, Wakayama.

(Subject of Investigation and Method)

1. Inquiry to the consumption of methyl mercury

Of the Taiji residents (population 3,536; 1,600 males, 1926 females, as of July 2009), in the summer study between June=Aug. 2009, 1017 residents, and in the winter study in Feb. 2010, 372 residents had hair samples tested for mercury concentrations. (252 overlapping subjects, for a total of 1137 residents tested) Subjects tested were asked to complete a voluntary survey with respect to the amount of and kinds of fish consumed.

1. Study on the effects on Health

Of the subjects studied in the summer study, 182 who had relatively high mercury concentrations (105 males, 77 females), were administered a standard two-point discrimination test and upper limb functionality exercise tests by neurological specialists between July and November 2009 and in January 2010.

Results

1. Methyl Mercury Concentration Study
2. Summer study results of mercury concentration in hair samples of subjects (from smallest to largest) was on average 11.0ppm for males (0.74ppm~139ppm), and 6.63ppm for females (0.61ppm~79.9ppm), compared to 14 other regions of Japan, the average was (from smallest to largest, 2.47ppm in males (0.10ppm~40.6ppm), and 1.64ppm for women (0.01ppm~25.8ppm).
3. Summer study results showed 3.1%, 32 subjects (26 male, 6 female) whose mercury levels exceeded WHO’s 50ppm lower limit for neurological symptoms.
4. Winter study results of mercury concentration averages showed males at 11.2ppm, females at 6.46ppm, an insignificant difference compared to the summer study. Both the summer and winter studies combined, subjects with over 50ppm equaled 3.8%, for a total of 43 subjects. Some subjects in the winter report overlapped in the summer study and it can be said that there was an increase in the mercury concentrations in the hair samples.
5. There is a correlation between eating some types of whale meat and mercury concentration in hair samples.

2) Study on Health Effects

1) In this study, it could not be proven that there was a case for mercury poisoning.

2) From the analysis of upper limb functional movement, “upper limb involuntary functionality” (tremors) which had been recognized in many Taiji  residents who took the test, has low possibility of being a pathological condition.

3) In neurological testing, a correlation is recognized between the decline or loss of the Achilles tendon reflex and mercury concentrations in hair samples. Compared to the residents from K cho, Ooshima-gun, Kagoshima Prefecture, there was an insignificant possibility of the effects of mercury on the tested Taiji-cho residents as the decline or loss of the Achilles tendon reflex was low .

(Further Investigation)

While the results from this study did not show the health affects of methyl mercury in Taiji residents, because of the extremely high concentrations of mercury in hairs samples, further testing is necessary. From 2010 on, in addition to further mercury concentration hair samples and neurological tests, testing on the effects on children and circulatory systems will be carried out by the National Institute for Minamata Disease. Also, for objective assessment for sensory disorders, the possibility of the use of magnetoencephalo meteres will be recommended. This data was collected for the continuing research for Taiji-cho Residents.

Excessive ingestion of mercury—a health hazard associated with consuming predatory fishes—damages neurological, sensory-motor and cardiovascular functioning. The mercury levels found in Bigeye Tuna (Thunnus obesus) and bluefin tuna species (Thunnus maccoyii, Thunnus orientalis, and Thunnus thynnus), exceed or approach levels permissible by Canada, the European Union, Japan, the US, and the World Health Organization. We used DNA barcodes to identify tuna sushi samples analysed for mercury and demonstrate that the ability to identify cryptic samples in the market place allows regulatory agencies to more accurately measure the risk faced by fish consumers and enact policies that better safeguard their health. <Go to Report>

To the Prime Minister, the Minister of Health, and the Ministry of Trade and Industry

Recommendation of the discontinuation of the use of pilot whale for human consumption
August 7, 2008

Excerpts
During the last 10 years, results of scientific studies have revealed an even gloomier picture of the adverse health effects that are caused by contaminants in pilot whale meat and blubber.

The results have so far shown that:

• Mercury from pilot whale meat adversely affects the fetal development of the nervous system
• The mercury effect is still detectable during adolescence
• The mercury from the maternal diet affects the blood pressure of the children
• The contaminants of the blubber adversely affect the immune system so that the children react more poorly to immunizations

The newest studies show that

• Contaminants in pilot whales appear to increase the risk of developing Parkinson’s disease those who eat it often
• The risk of hypertension and arteriosclerosis of the carotid arteries is increased in adults who have an increased exposure to mercury

Currently, studies are underway to examine the fertility of the population, since suspicion has been raised that reproductive functions may be decreased because of contaminants in pilot whale meat and blubber…

The growing scientific documentation has, during recent years, given rise to the anticipation that the time was approaching when it would be appropriate to recommend against human consumption of pilot whale meat and blubber. From the latest research results, the undersigned consider that the conclusion from a human health perspective must be as follows:

It is recommended that pilot whale is no longer used for human consumption.

It is with great sadness that this recommendation is provided. The pilot whale has served the Faroese well for many hundreds of year and has likely kept may Faroese alive through the centuries. But the times and environment are changing, and we therefore believe that this recommendation is necessary from a human health point of view…

Yours sincerely,

Høgni Debes Joensen, MD, Chief Medical Officer, Landslægen
Pál Weihe, MD, Chief Physician

汚染されたクジラ・イルカ由来食品の販売を禁止しない日本

www.eia-international.org 2008

要旨
この１０年の間に、日本で販売されている鯨類(クジラ、イルカ)由来食品の有毒化学物質の汚染濃度に関しては、専門家による独立評価が数多く行なわれてきた。専門家仲間による査読を受けた複数の科学論文によって、イルカ肉が政府の暫定的規制値の数百倍という濃度の水銀に汚染されていることが明らかにされている。

Tetsuya Endo, Ma Yong-Un, C. Scott Baker, Naoko Funahashi, Shane Lavery,
Merel L. Dalebout, Vimoksalehi Lukoschek, Koichi Haraguchi

Marine Pollution Bulletin 54 (2007) 669–677

Abstract
Levels of total mercury (T-Hg) were surveyed in red meat (n = 73) and liver (n = 3) from toothed whales, dolphins and porpoises (odontocetes) sold for human consumption in the coastal cities of South Korea. High concentrations of T-Hg were found in the liver
products of finless porpoises (18.7 and 156 lg/wet g) and common dolphins (13.2 lg/wet g). The T-Hg concentrations in red meat products were highest in the false killer whale (9.66 ± 12.3 lg/wet g, n = 9), bottlenose dolphin (10.6 ± 12.6 lg/wet g, n = 3) and killer whale (13.3 lg/wet g, n = 1), and lowest in Cuvier’s beaked whale and the harbour porpoise (0.4–0.5 lg/wet g). Thus, most of the products that originated from odontocetes exceeded the safety limit of 0.5 lg/wet g for T-Hg set by the South Korean health authorities for the fishery industry. Pregnant women and other vulnerable sectors of the population living in South Korea should therefore limit their consumption of odontocete products.

Japan’s Failure to Stop the Sale of Polluted Whale, Dolphin and Porpoise Products

www.eia-international.org

Introduction
Over the last decade, there have been many independent assessments of the levels of toxic chemicals present in cetacean (whale, dolphin and porpoise) products in Japan. Peer reviewed scientific papers have revealed dolphin meat with mercury levels several hundred times higher than government recommended levels.