Nippon Chisso Hiryo Co.

…was also the home of Nippon Chisso Hiryo Co., a manufacturer of chemical fertilizer, carbide, and vinyl chloride. Methyl mercury discharged from the factory contaminated fish and shellfish, which in turn caused illness in the local inhabitants who consumed them and birth defects in their children. The sometimes fatal disease…

…mercury poisoning resulting from the Nippon Chisso Hiryo Co.’s manufacturing of acetaldehyde, and that material was later associated with the deaths of at least 3,000 people. Mercury from the production process spilled into the bay and entered the food chain, including seafood, which was the town’s primary protein source. Deformed…