Franklin expedition lead exposure: New insights from high resolution confocal x-ray fluorescence imaging of skeletal microstructure.
In the summer of 1845, under the command of Sir John Franklin, 128 officers and men aboard Royal Navy ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror sailed into Lancaster Sound and entered the waters of Arctic North America. The goal of this expedition was to complete the discovery of a northwest passage by naviga...
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ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:637e8d5436124678a83be1ecdbe2b8aa 2023-05-15T15:17:19+02:00 Franklin expedition lead exposure: New insights from high resolution confocal x-ray fluorescence imaging of skeletal microstructure. Treena Swanston Tamara L Varney Madalena Kozachuk Sanjukta Choudhury Brian Bewer Ian Coulthard Anne Keenleyside Andrew Nelson Ronald R Martin Douglas R Stenton David M L Cooper 2018-01-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202983 https://doaj.org/article/637e8d5436124678a83be1ecdbe2b8aa EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6107236?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0202983 https://doaj.org/article/637e8d5436124678a83be1ecdbe2b8aa PLoS ONE, Vol 13, Iss 8, p e0202983 (2018) Medicine R Science Q article 2018 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202983 2022-12-31T11:58:57Z In the summer of 1845, under the command of Sir John Franklin, 128 officers and men aboard Royal Navy ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror sailed into Lancaster Sound and entered the waters of Arctic North America. The goal of this expedition was to complete the discovery of a northwest passage by navigating the uncharted area between Barrow Strait and Simpson Strait. Franklin and his crew spent the first winter at Beechey Island, where three crewmen died and were buried. In September 1846, the ships became stranded in ice off the northwest coast of King William Island, where they remained until April 1848. At that time, the crew, reduced to 105, deserted the ships and retreated south along the island's western and southern shores in a desperate attempt to reach the mainland and via the Back River, to obtain aid at a Hudson's Bay Company Post. Sadly, not one individual survived. Previous analyses of bone, hair, and soft tissue samples from expedition remains found that crewmembers' tissues contained elevated lead (Pb) levels, suggesting that Pb poisoning may have contributed to their demise; however, questions remain regarding the timing and degree of exposure and, ultimately, the extent to which the crewmembers may have been impacted. To address this historical question, we investigated three hypotheses. First, if elevated Pb exposure was experienced by the crew during the expedition, we hypothesized that those sailors who survived longer (King William Island vs. Beechey Island) would exhibit more extensive uptake of Pb in their bones and vice versa. Second, we hypothesized that Pb would be elevated in bone microstructural features forming at or near the time of death compared with older tissue. Finally, if Pb exposure played a significant role in the failure of the expedition we hypothesized that bone samples would exhibit evidence of higher and more sustained uptake of Pb than that of a contemporary comparator naval population from the 19th century. To test these hypotheses, we analyzed bone and dental remains of ... Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Back River King William Island Lancaster Sound Northwest passage Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic Northwest Passage Lancaster Sound ENVELOPE(-83.999,-83.999,74.218,74.218) Barrow Strait ENVELOPE(-94.168,-94.168,74.402,74.402) King William Island ENVELOPE(-97.418,-97.418,69.168,69.168) William Island ENVELOPE(-130.703,-130.703,54.035,54.035) Beechey Island ENVELOPE(-91.851,-91.851,74.718,74.718) Simpson Strait ENVELOPE(-97.165,-97.165,68.499,68.499) PLOS ONE 13 8 e0202983 |
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Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
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Medicine R Science Q |
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Medicine R Science Q Treena Swanston Tamara L Varney Madalena Kozachuk Sanjukta Choudhury Brian Bewer Ian Coulthard Anne Keenleyside Andrew Nelson Ronald R Martin Douglas R Stenton David M L Cooper Franklin expedition lead exposure: New insights from high resolution confocal x-ray fluorescence imaging of skeletal microstructure. |
topic_facet |
Medicine R Science Q |
description |
In the summer of 1845, under the command of Sir John Franklin, 128 officers and men aboard Royal Navy ships HMS Erebus and HMS Terror sailed into Lancaster Sound and entered the waters of Arctic North America. The goal of this expedition was to complete the discovery of a northwest passage by navigating the uncharted area between Barrow Strait and Simpson Strait. Franklin and his crew spent the first winter at Beechey Island, where three crewmen died and were buried. In September 1846, the ships became stranded in ice off the northwest coast of King William Island, where they remained until April 1848. At that time, the crew, reduced to 105, deserted the ships and retreated south along the island's western and southern shores in a desperate attempt to reach the mainland and via the Back River, to obtain aid at a Hudson's Bay Company Post. Sadly, not one individual survived. Previous analyses of bone, hair, and soft tissue samples from expedition remains found that crewmembers' tissues contained elevated lead (Pb) levels, suggesting that Pb poisoning may have contributed to their demise; however, questions remain regarding the timing and degree of exposure and, ultimately, the extent to which the crewmembers may have been impacted. To address this historical question, we investigated three hypotheses. First, if elevated Pb exposure was experienced by the crew during the expedition, we hypothesized that those sailors who survived longer (King William Island vs. Beechey Island) would exhibit more extensive uptake of Pb in their bones and vice versa. Second, we hypothesized that Pb would be elevated in bone microstructural features forming at or near the time of death compared with older tissue. Finally, if Pb exposure played a significant role in the failure of the expedition we hypothesized that bone samples would exhibit evidence of higher and more sustained uptake of Pb than that of a contemporary comparator naval population from the 19th century. To test these hypotheses, we analyzed bone and dental remains of ... |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Treena Swanston Tamara L Varney Madalena Kozachuk Sanjukta Choudhury Brian Bewer Ian Coulthard Anne Keenleyside Andrew Nelson Ronald R Martin Douglas R Stenton David M L Cooper |
author_facet |
Treena Swanston Tamara L Varney Madalena Kozachuk Sanjukta Choudhury Brian Bewer Ian Coulthard Anne Keenleyside Andrew Nelson Ronald R Martin Douglas R Stenton David M L Cooper |
author_sort |
Treena Swanston |
title |
Franklin expedition lead exposure: New insights from high resolution confocal x-ray fluorescence imaging of skeletal microstructure. |
title_short |
Franklin expedition lead exposure: New insights from high resolution confocal x-ray fluorescence imaging of skeletal microstructure. |
title_full |
Franklin expedition lead exposure: New insights from high resolution confocal x-ray fluorescence imaging of skeletal microstructure. |
title_fullStr |
Franklin expedition lead exposure: New insights from high resolution confocal x-ray fluorescence imaging of skeletal microstructure. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Franklin expedition lead exposure: New insights from high resolution confocal x-ray fluorescence imaging of skeletal microstructure. |
title_sort |
franklin expedition lead exposure: new insights from high resolution confocal x-ray fluorescence imaging of skeletal microstructure. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202983 https://doaj.org/article/637e8d5436124678a83be1ecdbe2b8aa |
long_lat |
ENVELOPE(-83.999,-83.999,74.218,74.218) ENVELOPE(-94.168,-94.168,74.402,74.402) ENVELOPE(-97.418,-97.418,69.168,69.168) ENVELOPE(-130.703,-130.703,54.035,54.035) ENVELOPE(-91.851,-91.851,74.718,74.718) ENVELOPE(-97.165,-97.165,68.499,68.499) |
geographic |
Arctic Northwest Passage Lancaster Sound Barrow Strait King William Island William Island Beechey Island Simpson Strait |
geographic_facet |
Arctic Northwest Passage Lancaster Sound Barrow Strait King William Island William Island Beechey Island Simpson Strait |
genre |
Arctic Back River King William Island Lancaster Sound Northwest passage |
genre_facet |
Arctic Back River King William Island Lancaster Sound Northwest passage |
op_source |
PLoS ONE, Vol 13, Iss 8, p e0202983 (2018) |
op_relation |
http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC6107236?pdf=render https://doaj.org/toc/1932-6203 1932-6203 doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0202983 https://doaj.org/article/637e8d5436124678a83be1ecdbe2b8aa |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0202983 |
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PLOS ONE |
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13 |
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8 |
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