Once methylmercury is in, it doesn't leave.

一旦甲基汞进入，它就不会离开。

Living at the top of the food chain, sharks can accumulate dangerous levels of methylmercury.

因为生活在食物链的顶端，所以鲨鱼可以积累达到危险水平的汞。

The more the fish ate, the more methylmercury they accumulated in their cells.

鱼吃得越多，它们细胞中积累的甲基汞就越多。

But the methylmercury produced by the bacteria was bioavailable, meaning that the plants were able to absorb it.

但是细菌产生的甲基汞是生物可利用的，这意味着植物能够吸收它。

When it gets inside the body, methylmercury binds to a different amino acid, called cysteine.

当甲基汞进入人体时，它会与一种不同的氨基酸结合，称为半胱氨酸。

By 1962, researchers had proved that the chemical processes used by the Chisso factory could cause the methylmercury poisoning.

到 1962 年，研究人员已经证明，奇索工厂使用的化学过程可能导致甲基汞中毒。

And methylmercury is especially poisonous for humans and other animals because unlike elemental mercury, it is almost entirely absorbed in the gut.

甲基汞对人类和其他动物尤其有毒，因为与元素汞不同，它几乎可以完全被肠道吸收。

We now know that methylmercury gets through by disguising itself as a super important component of proteins — the essential amino acid methionine.

我们现在知道甲基汞是通过伪装成蛋白质中极其重要的成分——必需氨基酸蛋氨酸来通过屏障的。

Mercury Mercury occurs naturally in air, water and soil, but it gets very dangerous when it builds up in fish and becomes methylmercury.

汞 汞天然存在于空气、水和土壤中，但当它在鱼体内积累并变成甲基汞时会变得非常危险。

Doctors and researchers launched an investigation into what they started calling Minamata Disease, and by 1959, they had found the cause: methylmercury poisoning from fish.

医生和研究人员对他们开始称之为水俣病的疾病展开了调查，到 1959 年，他们已经找到了原因：来自鱼类的甲基汞中毒。