Effects of Heavy Metal on Human Dentition
Additional Funding Sources
The funding for this project was supported a 2018-2019 STEM Undergraduate Research Grant from the Higher Education Research Council.
Abstract
Physical and chemical alteration of bone in archaeological and forensic contexts is a well-studied, but often poorly integrated field. Empirical generalizations derived from inhumation experiments and descriptive archaeological studies have made major strides in producing test explanations for the classes of alterations that can and do occur in buried bone, but understanding the mechanics of the uptake process is lacking. Estimating rate-variable taphonomic parameters is difficult in inhumation experiments and only inferred from descriptive archaeological studies. Here, we present a model-based approach for taphonomic alteration which explores the influences of common parameters in controlled experiments, using proxy mechanisms (temperature, humidity, pressure, pH and matrix composition) to measure elemental change in histological context. We apply this experimental approach to unaltered dental tissue and use Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy (LA-ICP-MS) to visualize the migration of metals into the biomineral portion. Research is ongoing and will shed light on the long term changes in dentition due to heavy metal movement in burial environments.
Effects of Heavy Metal on Human Dentition
Physical and chemical alteration of bone in archaeological and forensic contexts is a well-studied, but often poorly integrated field. Empirical generalizations derived from inhumation experiments and descriptive archaeological studies have made major strides in producing test explanations for the classes of alterations that can and do occur in buried bone, but understanding the mechanics of the uptake process is lacking. Estimating rate-variable taphonomic parameters is difficult in inhumation experiments and only inferred from descriptive archaeological studies. Here, we present a model-based approach for taphonomic alteration which explores the influences of common parameters in controlled experiments, using proxy mechanisms (temperature, humidity, pressure, pH and matrix composition) to measure elemental change in histological context. We apply this experimental approach to unaltered dental tissue and use Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectroscopy (LA-ICP-MS) to visualize the migration of metals into the biomineral portion. Research is ongoing and will shed light on the long term changes in dentition due to heavy metal movement in burial environments.
Comments
W28