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.