By Soh Ji-young
Staff Reporter

Residents near an old copper mine in Kosong, South Kyongsang Province, have come down with itai-itai disease due to cadmium poisoning, a local environmental institute claimed on Thursday.

The Citizens’ Institute for Environmental Studies affiliated with the Korean Federation of Environmental Movement (KFEM) said six residents in the area were found to have 2.51 to 6.64 ppb (parts per billion) of cadmium levels in their blood, higher than the standard 2 ppb.

The residents all lived nearby a rundown copper mine in the area and reported severe pains in the bones and the spine, typical symptoms of itai-itai disease, the institute said.

Among them, the cadmium levels for a 75-year-old woman were found to be 6.64 ppb, while a 76-year-old named Choi reported levels of 5.12 ppb.

A number of other residents are suffering from various bone-related ailments and have to rely on walking sticks to move around, according to Lee Sang-yong, an institute official.

The cadmium levels detected in the water flowing near the closed mine were also reported at 0.025 ppm (parts per million), five times the standard for drinking water.

Lee said that cadmium-polluted water seeping out from the mine is presumed to have flowed into the stream, contaminating the water and the rice being raised and later poisoning the residents in the area. The mine was closed down more than 30 years ago.

Itai-itai disease, named after the Japanese word `itai’ meaning `ouch’ for pain, was first discovered in Japan’s Toyama prefecture in the 1950s. The painful bone disease was later confirmed to be caused by poisoning through the consumption of cadmium-contaminated rice.

In response, the Environment Ministry said it will order the South Kyongsang provincial government to conduct an environmental inspection in Kosong to assess the level of cadmium pollution in the area.

jysoh@koreatimes.co.kr