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Sixth International Conference on Mercury as a Global Pollutant
October 16 - 19, 2001
This conference is held every two or three years and is without doubt the most important gathering of mercury scientists in the world. The 2001 conference was held from October 16th to 19th in Minamata City, Japan. The meeting took place at the Minamata Cultural Center and the adjacent Moyai Center.
The City of Minamata
Minamata is a relatively small city in the south of Japan. Its main claim to fame has been that it was the site of the first ever environmental mercury disaster. Methylmercury poisoning was first identified in the 1950's among fishermen who obtained their daily catch from Minimata Bay.
Identification of the cause of the mysterious illnesses was a long and painful process. Eventually, the cause was identified as a chemical plant that was discharging mercury into the Bay. Remedial action was undertaken and Minamata Bay was reopened to fishing in the 1990's. As a result of this environmental catastrophe, Minamata is today one of the most environmentally conscious cities in the world. Further details of this tragic episode are available at the National Institute for Minamata Disease (NIMD) website at: www.nimd.go.jp
There are many other web references to this event. However, note that Minamata is often rendered in English as Minimata, so be sure to check both spellings if the issue is of interest to you.
The conference took place under the patronage of NIMD. The head of the local organizing committee was Hirokatsu Akagi. Steven Lindberg was chairman of some other committee that did something else. We have it on good authority that they did more than go on multiple junkets to Japan simply to eat the food.
Tekran was proud to be one of the supporters of this event. We would like to thank our representative in Japan, Masaharu Itsuki, dylecinc@po.net-ibaraki.ne.jp President of Dylec Corporation (Ibaraki, Japan) for his help and continuous presence at the conference. He was the best tour guide and he ensured that we had a great time in Japan.
Click Photo below to enlarge
 Conference site on the Minimata River
 The factory
 Tekran at the conference
 Our representative Masaharu Itsuki and Tekran scientist Diana Babi sightseeing
We have compiled a list of papers from the conference technical program that, in some way, relate to Tekran. We hope you find it interesting.
Technical Program: Tekran Related Papers
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