Why was minamata disease named after the Mad Hatter?

Answer 1

Minamata disease was not named for the Mad Hatter. It was referred to as "Mad hatter disease" in a several Japanese government reports. Both conditions are a result of Mercury poisoning; however, the method of poisoning is different.

Minamata disease is actually named for a city in the Kumamoto region of Japan. In 1956, it was discovered that a Chisso Corporation chemical factory had been dumping polluted wastewater since 1932. The local population had unknowingly consumed massive quantities of mercury through fish and shellfish.

Mad hatter disease (and the phrase "mad as a hatter") occurs after inhaling the poisonous mercury fumes created by the process of curing animal skins.

Answer 2

Minamata disease was not named after the Mad Hatter; it was named after Minamata Bay in Japan, where the disease was first discovered in the 1950s due to mercury pollution. The Mad Hatter, from Lewis Carroll's "Alice's Adventures in Wonderland," was often depicted as suffering from mercury poisoning due to the use of mercury in hat-making during the 18th and 19th centuries.