Evaluation of Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry for the Quantitative Determination of Lead in Different Parts of Archeological Human Teeth

The lead content of teeth or tooth-parts has been used as a biomarker of cumulative lead exposure in clinical, epidemiological, environmental, and archaeological studies. Through the application of laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry, a pilot study of the micrometer-scale distribution and quantification of lead was conducted for two human teeth obtained from an archeological burial site in Manhattan, New York, USA. Lead was highly localized within each tooth, with accumulation in circumpulpal dentine and cementum. The maximum localized lead content in circumpulpal dentine was remarkably high, almost 2000 μg g(-1), compared to the mean enamel and dentine content of about 5 μg g(-1). The maximum lead content in cementum was approximately 700 μg g(-1). The large quantity of cementum found in the teeth suggested that the subjects had hypercementosis (excess cementum formation) of the root, a condition reported to have been prevalent among African-American slave populations. The distribution of lead in these human teeth was remarkably similar to the distribution that we previously reported in the teeth of present-day lead-dosed goats. The data shown demonstrate the feasibility of using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry to examine lead exposure in archaeological studies.