UPSC Express

Consider the following pairs:
Diseases Pollutants
1. Minamata Disease : Mercury
2. Itai-Itai Disease : Nitrate
3. Blue Baby Syndrome : Cadmium
4. Black Foot Disease : Arsenic
Which of the pairs given above are correctly matched?
A.
1 and 2 only
B.
2 and 3 only
C.
1 and 4 only
D.
1, 2, 3 and 4
Explanation :
Minamata disease is a neurological syndrome caused by severe mercury poisoning. It is caused due to consumption of mercury. Mercury poisoning due to consumption of fish captured from mercury contaminated Minamata Bay in Japan was detected in 1952.
Itai-Itai disease is caused by Cadmium pollution. It is also called Ouch-Ouch disease. The term “itai-itai disease” was coined by locals for the severe pains victims felt in the spine and joints. Cadmium poisoning can also cause softening of the bones and kidney failure.
Methaemoglobinemia or Blue baby Syndrome is widely believed to be caused by nitrate contamination in groundwater resulting in decreased oxygen carrying capacity of hemoglobin in babies leading to death. The groundwater can be contaminated by leaching of nitrate generated from fertilizer and chemicals used in agricultural lands, waste dumps or pit latrines.
Prolonged exposure to Arsenic causes Black Foot Disease. Blackfoot disease (BFD) is a severe form of peripheral vascular disease (PVD), in which the blood vessels in the lower limbs are severely damaged.