1971 Iraq poison grain disaster
Due to factors like foreign-language labeling and distribution too late into the growing cycle, this toxic grain was consumed as food by Iraqi residents in rural areas of the country.
Sufferers experienced paresthesia (numbness of skin), ataxia (lack of coordination of muscle movements) and vision loss, symptoms similar to those observed in Minamata disease-affected Japan.
[1] 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.
Contributing factors to the epidemic included the fact that distribution started late, and much grain arrived after the October–November planting season.
[7] 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.
[6] 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.
[6] 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.
[1] 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.
Consumption of ground grain in homemade bread is thought to have been the major source of toxicity,[8] since no cases were reported in urban areas, where government flour supplies were commercially regulated.
[1] The effect of mercury took some time – the latent period between ingestion and the first symptoms (typically paresthesia – numbness in the extremities) was between 16 and 38 days.
Worse cases included ataxia (typically loss of balance), blindness or reduced vision, and death resulting from central nervous system failure.
By January 1972, the government had started to strongly warn the populace about eating the grain, although dispatches did not mention the large numbers already ill.
The Iraqi Army soon ordered disposal of the grain and eventually declared the death penalty for anyone found selling it.
One suggested reason for the vast discrepancy between reported and estimated numbers of deaths is the Iraqi custom, common to large parts of the Middle East, for a person to die at home when possible.
[8] The meeting urged governments to strictly regulate methyl- and ethylmercury use in their respective countries, including limiting use to where no other reasonable alternative was available.
It supported the recommendations of the FAO/WHO report and further suggested that local and national media should publicise outbreaks, including size and symptoms; it considered the distribution of this information crucial.
