The lead in Beethoven's hair

Abstract

In the past several years a number of inadequately substantiated reports appeared in the popular media, asserting that lead (Pb) found in Beethoven's hair indicated that he was a victim of Pb poisoning and suggesting that lead played a role in his deafness and illnesses. This article reviews critically a recent report of the longitudinal distribution of Pb along individual hairs belonging to Beethoven by Dr Reiter 1, who interprets the Pb concentration profile of an individual hair in terms of several hypothetical occurrences which might have exposed Beethoven to lead during the last few months of his life and concludes that the resulting Pb poisoning caused his death. This hypothesis is, however, in need of substantiation by additional data since it is at variance with the known kinetics of Pb in blood and because the Pb content of hair is recognized as a problematical and unreliable biomarker of lead absorption, in part, because it is not possible to exclude exogenous Pb contamination in the specimen. In view of Beethoven's extraordinarily well-documented medical history and autopsy report, briefly summarized here, and in the absence of persuasive evidence that Beethoven suffered from lead disease, it is concluded that lead did not contribute significantly to his deafness, illnesses, or death.

Keywords:

• Lead poisoning
• lead disease
• hair lead
• hair analysis
• biomarkers
• history of medicine, Beethoven

Acknowledgments

The author thanks Drs Walter Gratzer and Philip Landrigan for helpful discussions.