Minamata disease is caused by the pollution of water with which metal?

The correct answer is B, mercury. Minamata disease takes its name from Minamata Bay in Japan, where a factory discharged mercury compounds that were converted by bacteria into methylmercury, concentrated in fish through biomagnification and then eaten by people. The poison attacks the central nervous system, producing numbness, loss of coordination, impaired speech and vision, and in severe cases death and birth defects. Option A is wrong because lead poisoning causes plumbism, damaging the nervous system and blood, but it is not called Minamata disease. Option C is wrong because cadmium causes Itai-Itai disease, a bone and kidney disorder. Option D is wrong because chromium, especially in its hexavalent form from tanneries and electroplating, causes skin ulcers and is carcinogenic, but again under a different name. Minamata is also the name of the international convention on mercury.