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

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.