Lead poisoning as possible cause of deaths at the Swedish House at Kapp Thordsen, Spitsbergen, winter 1872-3

Abstract

Objective: To investigate cause of death in 17 sealers who died in the Swedish house in Kapp Thordsen, Spitsbergen, during the winter of 1872-3. Design: Analysis of skeletal samples from one sealer's grave. Setting: Field trip to Spitsbergen to exhume skeletal remains. Subjects: One of 17 sailors who died in 1872-3. Results: No objective signs of scurvy were found. The concentration of lead in the bone samples was 102.05 μg/g. Conclusions: The high concentrations of lead indicate that this man died from lead poisoning, probably from food tins. The absence of macroscopic signs of scurvy supports this theory.