The Invisible Bill · Episode 8 of 12 · 20 min
Itai-Itai and the Poisoned Wells
Two poisonings, two outcomes. In Japan's Jinzu River basin, cadmium from a mine softened women's bones until they cried "itai, itai," and the mining company ended up paying for remediation and medical care for fifty years. In Bangladesh, aid-funded tube wells struck naturally arsenic-laced aquifers and exposed tens of millions, with no defendant to pay.
Who's who
- Noboru HaginoPhysician who named itai-itai disease and traced it to cadmium
- Dipankar ChakrabortiChemist who forced the arsenic crisis onto the international agenda
- Allan H. SmithLead author of the 2000 WHO Bulletin paper on arsenic exposure
Where it happens
- Jinzu River basin, Toyama, Japan+1 more episodeRice paddies contaminated by mine cadmium
- Kamioka mine, Gifu Prefecture, JapanMitsui lead-zinc mine upstream of Toyama
- BangladeshMillions of tube wells struck arsenic-laced groundwater
- Araihazar, BangladeshSite of the long-running arsenic health study
Timeline
- 1955Dr. Hagino and colleagues name itai-itai disease.
- May 1968Japan officially recognizes itai-itai as its first designated pollution disease.
- June 1971The Toyama District Court rules for the plaintiffs against Mitsui.
- August 1972Mitsui agrees to compensation, medical costs, and victim-led mine inspections.
- 2000A WHO Bulletin paper calls Bangladesh's arsenic exposure the largest mass poisoning in history.
- March 2012Toyama's 33-year soil restoration is declared complete.
Still debated
The widely repeated claim that one in five Bangladeshi deaths is arsenic-related misstates a figure measured in one high-exposure district. Whether Toyama's cleanup fully compensated every harm, and whether deep wells will stay safe long-term, remain open questions.