Human lead exposure in a late 19th century mental asylum population.

Lead isotope ratios and lead (Pb) levels were analyzed in 33 individuals from a forgotten cemetery at the Colorado Mental Health Institute at Pueblo, Colorado dating to 1879-1899. Isotopic ratios from healing bone fractures, cortical bone, and tooth dentine provide information about sources of Pb exposures over a range of time that illuminates individual's life histories and migration patterns. Historical records and Pb production data from the 19th century were used to create a database for interpreting Pb exposures for these African, Hispanic and European Americans. The analysis of these individuals suggests that Pb exposure noticeably impacted the mental health of 5-10% of the asylum patients in this frontier population, a high number by standards today, and that differences exist in the three ancestral groups' exposure histories.

Identification of human skeletal remains by comparison of bony details of the cranium using computerized tomographic (CT) scans.

A case is described where a cranium from an unknown individual is identified by comparison of antemortem and postmortem computerized tomographic (CT) images of the bony structure of the skull. While on at least one occasion CT scans of individual cranial landmarks have been used to identify unknown remains, this study is remarkable because positive identification of a deceased individual was accomplished by performing a CT scan on an unidentified cranium and comparing multiple landmarks and images with corresponding features in an antemortem CT scan of a missing man. Bony details of the frontal and sphenoid sinuses, ethmoid and mastoid air cells, sagittal cranial suture, and the torcula (the internal occipital protuberance) were exactly the same on both CT scans, confirming them as the same person.