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Abstract
About 2160 deciduous teeth were collected from cities, industrialized areas, rural and fishing communities in 14 Norwegian counties. Teeth from Medieval Bergen were also included. Zn‐analysis revealed that the majority of the collected teeth had a level of 122 μg/g. It is suggested that this corresponds to a natural back‐ground level and reflects optimum Zn‐intake. The analysis revealed, however, that urbanization and industrialization increase Zn‐absorption and that there was a significant positive correlation between zinc and lead in the teeth with an extremely high Zn‐level. It was also inferred from the results that about 0.41 percent of Norwegian children from 7 to 12 years of age suffer or have suffered from a Zn‐deficit. There was no correlation between industrialization or urbanization and tooth‐Cu in Norway. It was doubted that tooth‐Cu reflects amount of absorption below toxic levels. It was intimated, however, that a Cu‐level of 400 μg/g in deciduous teeth indicate undue absorption combined with a low Zn‐intake. The normal Cu‐content in Norwegian deciduous teeth was 12 μg/g. It was concluded that irrespective of essentiality, trace elements in societies with diversified environments will show a skewed distribution in hard tissues when the sample is representative.