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Original Articles

The Lead Content of Teeth

Evidence Establishing New Minimal Levels of Exposure in a Living Preindustrialized Human Population

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Pages 483-486 | Received 27 Oct 1974, Accepted 27 Jan 1975, Published online: 02 May 2013
 

Abstract

• Teeth were collected from populations differing in their degree of industrialization and from prehistoric populations. Lead analysis of dentine revealed that in contemporary teeth the lead level was related to the degree of industrialization and that in prehistoric teeth very low concentrations of lead were present. Because tooth lead reflects the body burden of lead this result suggested that the prehistoric populations and modern nonindustrial populations were exposed to environments low in lead. Teeth from a contemporary population of nonindustrialized Indians of the Lacandon forest in Mexico contain lead in concentrations comparable with those of the prehistoric populations. Comparison of the Indian teeth with teeth from a modern industrial population reveals a 45-fold difference in median tooth lead level. This finding lends support to the hypothesis that high levels of urban lead pollution result in elevated body burdens of lead.

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