Fiocruz and China will establish a partnership to address mercury exposure in indigenous lands

The National School of Public Health (ENSP/FIOCRUZ) and the Global Health Research Center of the Guangdong University of Foreign Studies in China will sign a cooperation agreement to tackle Minamata disease and mercury exposure among indigenous populations. The joint actions were discussed during the visit of the honorary professor of the Chinese institution, Kunihiko Yoshida, to Ensp/Fiocruz on March 19th and 20th. He was welcomed by the researchers and coordinators of the Environment, Diversity and Health group, Paulo Basta and Sandra Hacon, and by the International Cooperation advisor at the School of Government in Health, Felippe Amarante. The Memorandum of Understanding for cooperation is expected to be signed in August.

Joint actions discussed during the visit of the honorary professor of the Chinese institution, Kunihiko Yoshida, at Ensp/Fiocruz (photo: Ensp Report)

The partnership will encompass the areas of teaching, research, communication, information, management, and health policies. As joint actions, among other points, include raising financial and local infrastructure resources for the mitigation and repair of damages incurred by indigenous peoples; hybrid international meetings; fieldwork with indigenous populations in the Legal Amazon; and dissemination of indigenous environmental knowledge to young people. Cooperation also includes the development of health research projects; the academic exchange of researchers and students; the exchange of information and technical documentation on health; the organization of seminars or conferences; and scientific publications.

A lawyer and expert in environmental and health law, Yoshida investigates the effects of mercury contamination on various populations around the world, looking for similarities between the clinical manifestations of Minamata disease in Japan and other parts of the world.

Minamata disease is a chronic neurological condition caused by mercury poisoning. The name derives from the Japanese town where it was described in 1956. The disease was caused by methyl mercury contamination through wastewater released from the Chisso chemical industry between 1932 and 1968, and was spread to the local population through the consumption of fish.

As Yoshida pointed out, only 10% of people affected by Minamata disease in Japan have received adequate treatment, as well as compensation from the government and recognition as victims of the condition. The remainder of the affected population is still in litigation, seeking recognition and proper treatment. In addition to this negative legacy, there are also other challenges in tackling the disease in the country, according to the professor. These include difficulties in understanding the conditions that contribute to the development of the disease, as well as problems imposed by capitalism, due to the incessant search for profit.

Yoshida visited the Sawré Muybu Indigenous Land, of the Munduruku people of the middle Tapajós River, in March 2023, during fieldwork coordinated by Paulo Basta. The professor said that the partnership between Ensp/Fiocruz and the Chinese institution was motivated by the

installation of the new Global Health Research Center at the Guangdong University, which he recently joined after retiring from the Hokaido University in Japan. According to Yoshida, despite the different contexts between the Japanese region and Brazil's indigenous lands, international cooperation could contribute to tackling mercury contamination in both countries. "We still have many obstacles and few problems have been solved. That is why we need international collaboration on these issues, so that Western society understands the importance of establishing a kind of 'conscious growth'. China also has problems linked to environmental devastation and pollution. Therefore, building a new Memorandum of Understanding between Brazil, Japan, and China could be very significant," said the professor.

Paulo Basta, researcher at Ensp/Fiocruz, agrees that the partnership will be of great value to Brazil: "This cooperation will give more visibility to the issue, broadening the debate and international repercussions about the harmful effects of mercury contamination. Recognizing the existence of Minamata disease in Brazil indicates the importance of research in this area and strengthens our lines of investigation and our research group as a whole, further creating more robust academic links between different countries."

Mercury exposure in Japan and on Brazilian indigenous lands

As part of the program for his visit to Ensp/Fiocruz, Yoshida took part in a workshop with members of the research group led by Paulo Basta to discuss the impacts of mercury contamination on indigenous lands in the Amazon and its similarities to the Minamata Bay disaster in Japan.

In his presentation, Yoshida pointed out that Minamata disease caused by exposure to mercury has become a global problem. The professor put the disease situation in Japan into context, pointing out challenges such as the lack of funding and epidemiological knowledge about the causes of the disease. He also recounted his experience of interviewing people affected by mercury contamination in the Munduruku indigenous lands in Pará in 2023, when he accompanied the fieldwork carried out by Paulo Basta's research team with this population.

As a result of the research carried out by the Ensp/Fiocruz's team in the region, six articles were published in a thematic issue on Environmental and Occupational Health in Brazil, in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. The articles are open access.

In addition to the scientific articles, the research group led by Basta launched the academic book Garimpo de Ouro na Amazônia: Crime, Contaminação e Morte [Gold Mining in the Amazon: Crime, Contamination and Death], available at the Abrasco bookstore. In partnership with researcher Ana Claudia Vasconcellos, from the Joaquim Venâncio Polytechnic Health School (EPSJV/Fiocruz), the Mercury Amazonia EIPI BE textbook was also produced, available in Fiocruz's Arca Dados repository. The book is bilingual (Munduruku and Portuguese) and was prepared together with indigenous teachers to be used in classes from the sixth to the ninth year of elementary school, in schools located in the Munduruku Indigenous Land.

In analyzing the situation of mercury exposure on Brazilian indigenous lands, Yoshida drew attention to some challenges, such as the tension between global capitalism and a sustainable, nature-friendly solidarity economy. "It is paradoxical that mercury contamination as a result of global capitalism has been suffered by indigenous peoples, who hold the key to overcoming the environmental health crisis in the 21st century. They reject the notion of private and exclusive property, which brings territorial disputes and war. They take great responsibility for the environment and have indigenous knowledge of sustainability, through which they have lived for thousands of years," concluded the professor.

During the workshop, the research protocol for the Estudo Longitudinal de Gestantes e Recém-Nascidos Indígenas Expostos ao Mercúrio na Amazônia [Longitudinal Study of Indigenous Pregnant Women and Newborns Exposed to Mercury in the Amazon], coordinated by Paulo Basta with the Munduruku indigenous population, was also presented. Preliminary results show high levels of mercury exposure: "We observed pregnant women with 23-24 micrograms of mercury for every gram of hair analyzed, where the safety limit is 2. In other words, Munduruku pregnant women have mercury levels in their bodies that are 10 times higher than the safety limit," warned the Ensp/Fiocruz researcher. According to him, the final results should be published in December 2026, after the data collection has been completed.

This is not the first time that Yoshida has visited Ensp/Fiocruz. In 2023, as a member of the Board of Directors of the Japanese Academy of Housing and Well-Being, the professor met with researcher Paulo Basta to discuss potential areas of cooperation with the institution in Japan, also focusing on indigenous populations and patients suffering from Minamata disease. In 2022, Ensp/Fiocruz also welcomed the professor to present the projects on mercury contamination developed by the team of researchers Paulo Basta and Sandra Hacon.