Philippe Grandjean
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- September 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780199985388
- eISBN:
- 9780199346233
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199985388.003.0004
- Subject:
- Philosophy, Moral Philosophy
The first human disaster due to environmental pollution happened in Minamata, Japan, in the 1950s. Hundreds of children were born mentally retarded because of exposures through contaminated local ...
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The first human disaster due to environmental pollution happened in Minamata, Japan, in the 1950s. Hundreds of children were born mentally retarded because of exposures through contaminated local fish later found to originate from industrial mercury pollution. However, there was strong resistance to the conclusion that a food staple would be hazardous to anyone’s health. A key observation was that the mothers were not harmed by the pollution, only the child that shared the mother’s mercury exposure. More refined research documented effects at lower and lower exposure levels. And when the benefit from seafood nutrients were taken into account, the mercury toxicity was even stronger. Because the pollution occurred in fish and seafood, public health action was delayed for several decades. So, the assumption that otherwise healthy food cannot become unhealthy was wrong.Less
The first human disaster due to environmental pollution happened in Minamata, Japan, in the 1950s. Hundreds of children were born mentally retarded because of exposures through contaminated local fish later found to originate from industrial mercury pollution. However, there was strong resistance to the conclusion that a food staple would be hazardous to anyone’s health. A key observation was that the mothers were not harmed by the pollution, only the child that shared the mother’s mercury exposure. More refined research documented effects at lower and lower exposure levels. And when the benefit from seafood nutrients were taken into account, the mercury toxicity was even stronger. Because the pollution occurred in fish and seafood, public health action was delayed for several decades. So, the assumption that otherwise healthy food cannot become unhealthy was wrong.
Marina Sorrentino
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- March 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780199944590
- eISBN:
- 9780190218850
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199944590.003.0002
- Subject:
- Economics and Finance, Economic History
The chapter focuses on how Italy’s economic growth enabled the spread of improvements in the diet of the Italian population. According to mid-nineteenth-century observers, nourishment was likely to ...
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The chapter focuses on how Italy’s economic growth enabled the spread of improvements in the diet of the Italian population. According to mid-nineteenth-century observers, nourishment was likely to be a daily torment for the major part of the population. In contrast, we estimate that in the aftermath of Italy’s unification (1861) the daily calories available to the average Italian exceeded 2,500, a value that is higher than that commonly used today to mark the threshold of undernutrition in developing countries. A high per-capita calorie availability is consistent with the presence of a sizable part of the population trying to make ends meet. In 1861 one person in two (perhaps even two in three) did not consume enough calories to lead a healthy life. In the case of Italy, macroeconomic data hide more than they reveal.Less
The chapter focuses on how Italy’s economic growth enabled the spread of improvements in the diet of the Italian population. According to mid-nineteenth-century observers, nourishment was likely to be a daily torment for the major part of the population. In contrast, we estimate that in the aftermath of Italy’s unification (1861) the daily calories available to the average Italian exceeded 2,500, a value that is higher than that commonly used today to mark the threshold of undernutrition in developing countries. A high per-capita calorie availability is consistent with the presence of a sizable part of the population trying to make ends meet. In 1861 one person in two (perhaps even two in three) did not consume enough calories to lead a healthy life. In the case of Italy, macroeconomic data hide more than they reveal.
