TAIJI, Wakayama Pref. — Residents of Taiji, Wakayama Prefecture, appeared relieved Sunday after health specialists found no symptoms of mercury poisoning in their bodies, even though the hair samples of some residents contained high levels of methyl mercury.

And the people in the town with a centuries-old tradition of eating whale and dolphin said they won't change their diet.

"I am relieved because experts said (methyl mercury) has no effects on our bodies. Everyone seemed relieved," fish shop owner Shinichi Shiozaki, 60, said after a town hall meeting with residents, town officials and the National Institute for Minamata Disease, which conducted the tests.