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To the Ends of the Earth

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When we think of metal poisoning; lead, mercury and aluminium intoxication invariably springs to mind. But the insidious toxic properties of the metal manganese have almost been completely overlooked. Modern health authorities could learn a lesson from the alchemists of the Byzantine era who regarded manganese as the black magic metal; whereby the quantum capacity of manganese to absorb light and sound, can induce a lethal ‘Jekyll and Hyde’ style conversion of this metal from innocuous to toxic form.

Manganese exposure has been associated with the original cause of many neuro-degenerative diseases. As part of my quest to identify the original causes of BSE, I had travelled to Groote Eylandt - a one time enchanted tropical island in the Gulf of Carpentaria, NE Australia, where bush lands and forests of stringy backed eucalyptus, pandanus and cypress pine have supported ideal nomadic hunter /gatherer grounds for several Aboriginal clans.

The history of this remote island has witnessed a bizarre degree of ‘heaven and hells’; Not only do the island’s soils play host to the mother of all manganese concentrations, but its flamboyant rainforest ecosystems have supported some of the most pure bred Aboriginal clans alive in Australia today. But as I was soon to learn, the tropical charms of a Groote Eylandt of ‘pick-your- own’ coconuts and turquoise seas can be deceptive to the uninformed outsider.

I was interested in the emergence of a cluster of mystery progressive, fatal neuro-degenerative diseases (collectively known as Groote Syndrome ) that had erupted in this remote Aboriginal outback of the Northern Australian territories. According to the Elders, the problem first developed in the late 1960s after the mining corporation started open cast mining of manganese on the island in the early 1960s, whereupon a fine black manganese dioxide dust gradually cloaked the precise region of the island where Groote syndrome has now emerged; Angurugu village. But the mining corporation funded experts have, not surprisingly, spun a different story line on the origins of this disease.

After broadcasting of the BBC film "Mad Cows and an Englishman" on ABC Four Corners in Australia, I received a deluge of correspondence from people concerned about manganese contamination on Groote Eylandt. One of the most inspiring communications came from Susannah Churchill of Canberra, who, unlike your average academic, had actually lived with the Aboriginal folk herself whilst researching for her thesis. Her completed manuscript on Groote syndrome makes a refreshingly impartial read. It’s a study that combines a lateral mix of cultural, genetic and geo-medical perspectives. I could also strongly relate to her suggestion that Groote syndrome was yet another satellite extension of the famous South Pacific clusters of "Guam Syndrome" - pockets of high manganese/high aluminium terrain where a variety of Alzheimer's/Motor Neurone/Parkinson's - like neuro-degenerative diseases had burst out at an incidence rate that was fifty times higher than the average international rate.

By amazing coincidence, the parents of my only Australian friend, Jo Wooding, turned out to have once lived in the same house in Canberra where Susannah used to live. So when Jo next visited her parents in Canberra, she was able to pick up a copy of the thesis and deliver it directly back to me on her return to London. After reading the document, I found myself compelled to visit Groote Eylandt.

One year later, I received a welcome donation of £500 from a Canadian reader of the Mid Atlantic Bio Dynamic Farming Association’s website ‘BD Now’ who had been promoting my work. This enabled me to raise sufficient money to launch my long awaited eco-detective investigation into the origins of this mystery cluster.

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Last updated 11th April 2008