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

doi:10.1136/bmj.b5038

Published 4 December 2009, doi:10.1136/bmj.b5038
Cite this as: BMJ 2009;339:b5038

Research

Christmas 2009: Diagnosis

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

Ulf Aasebø, professor of lung medicine¹^,2, Kjell G Kjær, retired historian³

¹ Institute of Clinical Medicine, University of Tromsø, Norway, ² Department of Lung Medicine, University Hospital of North Norway, ³ 9136 Vannareid, Norway

Correspondence to: U Aasebø ulf.aasebo{at}unn.no

Objective To investigate cause of death in 17 sealers who diedin the Swedish house in Kapp Thordsen, Spitsbergen, during thewinter of 1872-3.

Design Analysis of skeletal samples from one sealer’sgrave.

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 concentrationof lead in the bone samples was 102.05 µg/g.

Conclusions The high concentrations of lead indicate that thisman died from lead poisoning, probably from food tins. The absenceof macroscopic signs of scurvy supports this theory.

© Aasebø et al 2009
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