![]() Consumption of ground grain in homemade bread is thought to have been the major source of toxicity, since no cases were reported in urban areas, where government flour supplies were commercially regulated. ![]() Ground seed dust inhalation was a contributing factor in farmers during sowing and grinding. Mercury was ingested through the consumption of homemade bread, meat and other animal products obtained from livestock given treated barley, vegetables grown from soil contaminated with mercury, game birds that had fed on the grain and fish caught in rivers, canals, and lakes into which treated grain had been dumped by the farmers. Hence, washing may have given only the appearance of removing the poison. The red dye washed off the grain the mercury did not. The long, asymptomatic latent period of mercury poisoning may have granted farmers a false sense of security when animals fed the grain initially appeared to be fine. Warnings on the sacks were in Spanish and English, not at all understood, or included the black-and-white skull and crossbones design, which meant nothing to Iraqis. Initially, farmers were to certify with a thumbprint or signature that they understood the grain was poison, but according to some sources, distributors did not ask for such an indication. Many Iraqis were either unaware of the significant health risk posed, or chose to ignore the warnings. This left them dependent on tainted grain for the winter. Some farmers even sold off their own grain, lest this new grain's harvest devalue their old varieties. Distribution was hurried and open, with grain being distributed free of charge or with payment in kind. Contributing factors to the epidemic included the fact that distribution started late, and much grain arrived after the October–November planting season.įarmers were supposed to plant the poisoned grain, but many instead offered it to their families as food, since their own planting had been completed. The three northern governorates of Nineveh, Kirkuk and Erbil together received more than half the shipments. The decision to use mercury-coated grain has been reported as made by the Iraqi government, rather than the supplier, Cargill. The seeds contained an average of 7.9 μg/g of mercury, with some samples containing up to nearly twice that. Iraq's government chose Mexipak, a high-yield wheat seed developed in Mexico by Norman Borlaug. The wheat arrived in Basra on SS Trade Carrier between 16 September and 15 October, barley between 22 October and 24 November 1971. Some 95,000 tonnes (93,000 long tons 105,000 short tons) of grain (73,201 tonnes of wheat grain and 22,262 tonnes of barley), coloured a pink-orange hue, were shipped to Iraq from the United States and Mexico. Drought had reduced harvests in 1969, affecting 500,000 people, and in 1970.Ĭauses A map of Iraq (1976) showing the provinces referred to. Before the 1971 incident, around 200–300 cases of methylmercury poisoning had been reported worldwide. ![]() Among the recommendations made after the 1960 incident had been to colour any toxic grain for easy identification. In 1956, there had been around 200 cases, and 70 deaths in 1960 there had been 1000 cases and 200 deaths, in both cases due to ethylmercury compounds. Previous mercury-poisoning incidents had occurred in Iraq in 19. Methylmercury had been banned in Sweden in 1966, the first country to do so, and the United Kingdom followed in 1971. The properties of mercury make it an effective fungicide. Investigation confirmed the particular danger posed to fetuses and young children. Reports after the disaster recommended tighter regulation, better labelling and handling of mercury-treated grain, and wider involvement of the World Health Organization in monitoring and preventing poisoning incidents. The 1971 poisoning was the largest mercury poisoning disaster when it occurred, with cases peaking in January and February 1972 and stopping by the end of March. ![]() The recorded death toll was 459 people, but figures at least ten times greater have been suggested. People suffered from paresthesia (numbness of skin), ataxia (lack of coordination of muscle movements) and vision loss, symptoms similar to those seen when Minamata disease affected Japan. Due to a number of factors, including foreign-language labelling and late distribution within the growing cycle, this toxic grain was consumed as food by Iraqi residents in rural areas. Grain treated with a methylmercury fungicide and never intended for human consumption was imported into Iraq as seed grain from Mexico and the United States. The 1971 Iraq poison grain disaster was a mass methylmercury poisoning incident that began in late 1971. Note the labelling in Spanish, and the grain's distinctive orange-pink colour. Incident of mass poisoning in Iraq in 1971 A sack of "pink grain".
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