Bone cadmium and lead in 18th century population groups from the Canary Islands

Abstract

This study was performed in order to determine the levels of lead and cadmium in bone samples of two historic (18th century) population groups from the Canary Islands (La Concepción and San Francisco), comparing the results with those obtained in modern inhabitants. We found that historic individuals from La Concepción (Tenerife) and San Francisco (Gran Canaria) showed significantly lower bone lead (8.84 ± 13.41 mg/kg and 6.73 ± 4.06 mg/kg, respectively) than the modern population (30.53 ± 14.62 mg/kg). On the contrary, bone cadmium, although slightly lower in the ancient population groups, was not significantly different when compared with the modern one. Bone lead and cadmium kept, however, a significant relationship among the individuals from La Concepción, suggesting a common source of exposure.