Word: methyl
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Chisso's trouble began in 1950 after it opened in the fishing port of Minamata an acetaldehyde factory that began to discharge effluents into Minamata Bay. One of the waste substances: a highly toxic methyl mercury compound that was passed up the food chain from tiny organisms to small fish to the larger fish that comprise a substantial part of the townspeople's diet. By 1953 the mercury contamination had reached a dangerous level in some people, who began to suffer the crippling symptoms of what is now referred to as Minamata disease. Howling in pain and racked...
McElroy said the increased agricultural use of methyl bromide for crop fumigation also depletes the ozone layer...
...fadeout from public view, Comet Kohoutek was far from a scientific disappointment. About a month after they had detected methyl cyanide molecules in the comet's head, radio astronomers atop Kitt Peak last week reported picking up the "signature" of hydrogen cyanide molecules in radio waves from Kohoutek. The discovery has dual significance. Both molecules have been found in the clouds of gases and dust in the vast reaches between the stars; thus their presence in the comet lends strong support to the theory that comets were formed from the same interstellar material out of which the solar system...
...only the trees are sickening and dying. The pollution has also caused some frightening and hitherto unknown illnesses among humans. First came the so-called Minamata Disease, caused by a fertilizer plant dumping methyl mercury into a bay near the town of Minamata; it produced in its victims an appalling array of eye and brain damages. Another painful new disease called itai-itai (literally, ouch-ouch) derived from cadmium flowing into the Jintsu River from a mining and smelting factory. Its symptoms: a softening and finally a breaking of the bones. Then, two years ago, a wave of smog-associated...
...countries where malaria is a problem; and use on onions, green peppers and sweet potatoes in certain areas that are particularly vulnerable to pests). The ban will not go into effect until the end of the year, allowing time to train farmers in using DOT'S chief substitute, methyl parathion, which is highly toxic but breaks down soon after being used...