tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3873756940955163469.post803617314737552933..comments2024-03-18T18:05:25.821-07:00Comments on VISIONS OF THE NORTH: New studies on lead poisoning and Franklin's menRussell Potterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11023313195827310776noreply@blogger.comBlogger3125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3873756940955163469.post-34213536131586608662019-06-22T17:18:25.644-07:002019-06-22T17:18:25.644-07:00There's this little nugget of info in the D...There's this little nugget of info in the D'Ortenzio study of Goodsir's hair that I found interesting -<br />"Sequential analysis of the hair starting with FH3, which was the hair segment furthest from the scalp and represented lead concentrations three months prior to death, was the highest at 84.2 ppm. Lead concentrations dropped to 73.3 ppm in the month just prior to death."<br />https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352409X18300476<br />To me that sounds like a little bit of a clue of the timeline from when he stopped being exposed to the lead to when he got over there by the pfeffer river (i.e. if Carney is correct about environmental contamination, maybe its when they abandoned ship?). Does it mean it took a month to get from point A (the ship) to point B (dead)? <br />The source of my rum comment (which I sorta wrote tongue in cheek) is from a study of lead in sailor's bones from a naval cemetery in Antigua...nearly contemporary with the 1840's (these sailors died c. 1793-1822 but I noticed they show similar lead levels to the Franklin expedition lead levels). "Rum, produced from sugar cane locally on<br />islands in the West Indies, was a common beverage.<br />Both the collection of the cane juice and the<br />distillation of rum involved equipment that was often<br />lined or entirely made of lead"<br />http://fieldresearchcentre.weebly.com/uploads/1/8/0/7/18079819/varney_et_al.pdfMChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13394092223320661501noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3873756940955163469.post-22213124175538444262019-06-22T12:50:58.764-07:002019-06-22T12:50:58.764-07:00It's certainly possible that rum -- or wine, w...It's certainly possible that rum -- or wine, which at the time was reserved "for the sick" among the men -- may have been a contributing source of the lead. The rum "ration," though, would have been the same every day for every man, so it can't really explain the differences in lead levels.Russell Potterhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11023313195827310776noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3873756940955163469.post-78639485244961772212019-06-19T20:59:30.152-07:002019-06-19T20:59:30.152-07:00The study you referenced mentioned there was a dro...The study you referenced mentioned there was a drop off of lead in that last month or so of his life. Maybe they ran out of rum?MChttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13394092223320661501noreply@blogger.com