<p>Rice, a staple food for a large portion of the world population, has been documented to have been cultivated, grown, and consumed for thousands of years.  For those living around the Jinzu river in Toyama Prefecture in Japan in the early 1900s, rice and water consumption caused a pollution disease called “Itai-Itai disease”.  Bone and join pains and kidney disease were ever increasing around this region of Japan, and it wasn’t until the 1950s that cadmium was suspected as the primary culprit.</p>

Rice, a staple food for a large portion of the world population, has been documented to have been cultivated, grown, and consumed for thousands of years. For those living around the Jinzu river in Toyama Prefecture in Japan in the early 1900s, rice and water consumption caused a pollution disease called “Itai-Itai disease”. Bone and join pains and kidney disease were ever increasing around this region of Japan, and it wasn’t until the 1950s that cadmium was suspected as the primary culprit.

Mining, Water, Rice, and Bone Pain

Toxic History! is a narrative medicine lecture series where medical experts tell you stories from the history of poison. Human beings have known about poison – substances that harm and even kill– for thousands of years. Poisons have been seen as mysterious, supernatural, and enigmatic. What are these plants, mixtures, and elements with such powerful properties? It is only in the past century that science has begun to demystify these chemicals and explain how they work. Still, the impact they have on the world – from cultish mass suicides to chemical attacks to a single case of homicide – can be profound. Toxic History! explores the impact on society, culture, and science behind poisonous events in history.

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Mining, Water, Rice, and Bone Pain

Mining, Water, Rice, and Bone Pain

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