Increased demand for raw materials during the Russo-Japanese War and World War I,

as well as new mining technologies from Europe, increased the output of the mines,
putting the Kamioka Mines in Toyama among the world's top mines. Production
increased even more before World War II. Starting in 1910 and continuing through
1945, cadmium was released in significant quantities by mining operations, and the
disease first appeared around 1912.

Especially, the basis that concluded the cause of the disease to be Cd pollution
was epidemiological evidence that only cadmium can explain the limited development
of itai-itai disease in a specific area around parts of the Jinzu River.

Recent animal experiments have demonstrated that not all of the symptoms of itai-
itai sickness can be brought on by cadmium toxicity.

According to these investigations, cadmium damage to kidney cell mitochondria is a

major contributing component to the illness

Prior to World War II, mining was expanded to meet wartime demand by Mitsui Mining
& Smelting Co., Ltd. As a result, the Jinz River and its tributaries became more
polluted.
When the locals complained about the pollution, Mitsui Mining & Smelting Co. built
a basin to store the mining waste water before it was discharged into the river.
This was ineffective, and many people had already become ill.

effects
The degree of Cd pollution in different parts of the endemic area determined by the
analyzed Cd concentration of the soil in the paddy fields was shown in Fig.1. In
Fig.2, the frequency of the disease is illustrated by the percentage of women over
50 years of age having or suspected of having the disease. The striking correlation
between the prevalence of itai-itai disease and degree of Cd pollution was found
even within the endemic area.