Water pollution may turn city into another ‘Minamata’

Hyderabad: Industrial pollution which has become a major contributor to pollution in water bodies in the city may turn Hyderabad into another ‘Minamata’, feared doctors and researchers.

Expressing concern, they found various heavy metals and chemical compounds were contributing factors for different kinds of diseases in Hyderabad. Environmentalists, researchers and doctors found lead and mercury amongst other compounds damaging the health of denizens. “City of Minamata in Japan witnessed the peculiar disease.

It was caused by the release of mercury in the waters from a chemical factory for several years. The fish of the Minamata bay was later eaten by locals. The disease called Minamata disease is a neurological disease caused by mercury poisoning.

The symptoms in extreme cases caused insanity, paralysis and death. It also affected fetuses,” explained Dr K Praveen Saxena at a round table conference.

Dr D Narasimha Reddy giving an instance how water bodies were affected said that the latest research in Durgam Cheruvu has revealed that there were 183 compounds. These include pharmaceuticals, herbicides, fungicides, pesticides, hormones, steroids, UV filters, plasticisers, cyan toxins and metabolites.

“Overall, veterinary medications, narcotic pharmaceuticals, pain killers, anti-psychotic, antidepressant and anti-obesity drugs were found to be the most prevalent components in the lake samples, indicating the discharge of domestic and industrial wastewater into the lake,” he pointed out.

The round table conference ‘Toxicity in city’ organised by Praveen at CESS in Begumpet was attended by several doctors practicing different streams of medicine, integrative medicine, homeopaths and ayurvedic besides researchers and retired public servants.

They found that industry has manufactured more than 81,000 synthetic chemicals since 1930. These toxins include lead, mercury, benzene, toluene, pesticides, food additives and xenoestrogens like BPA, PCB, and phthalates.

The steady rise for many years in disorders that are known to be linked to environmental pollution, combined with ever more specific scientific and medical knowledge, should lead the government to acknowledge the serious public health problem of heavy metals and to find appropriate solutions.

The following examples show the frequency with which metals appear in our daily life

♦ Arsenic, barium, cadmium, chromium, lead, copper, mercury, nickel, thallium, antimony, and beryllium can be found in tap water.

♦ Metals are used as additives in food.

♦ Methyl mercury, arsenic, and cadmium can be found in fish.

♦ Cadmium accumulates due to chemical fertiliser in the food chain.

♦ Amalgam is soil used as tooth substance, which consists of copper, mercury, and stannic. Also silver, gold, cobalt, chromium, indium, palladium, platinum, stannic and titanium are put to use in the dentistry.

♦ Aluminium, lead, mercury, and titanium appear in cosmetics.

♦ Lead and cadmium can enter the body via cigarette smoke