Quantitative determinations and imaging in different structures of buried human bones from the XVIII-XIXth centuries by energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence - Postmortem evaluation

In this work, a non-commercial triaxial geometry energy dispersive X-ray Fluorescence (EDXRF) setup and a benchtop mu-XRF system were used to identify postmortem contamination in buried bones. For two of the individuals, unusually high concentrations of Cu and Pb, but also Zn (in one individual) were observed. The pigments of the burial shroud coverings have been identified as the source of contamination.Accurate and precise quantitative results were obtained by nondestructive process using fundamental parameters method taking into account the matrix absorption effects.A total of 30 bones from 13 individuals, buried between the mid-XVlllth to early XIXth centuries, were analyzed to study the elemental composition and elemental distribution. The bones were collected from a church in Almada (Portugal), called Ermida do Espirito Santo, located near the Tagus River and at the sea neighbourhood.The triaxial geometry setup was used to quantify Ca, Fe, Cu, Zn, Br, Sr and Pb of powder pressed bone pellets (n=9 for each bone). Cluster analysis was performed considering the elemental concentrations for the different bones. There was a clear association between some bones regarding Fe, Cu, Zn, Br and Pb content but not a categorization between cortical and trabecular bones. The elemental distribution of Cu, Zn and Pb were assessed by the benchtop p.-analysis, the M4 Tornado, based on a polycapillary system which provides multi-elemental 2D maps. The results showed that contamination was mostly on the surface of the bone confirming that it was related to the burial shroud covering the individuals

No association between the aluminium content of trabecular bone and bone density, mass or size of the proximal femur in elderly men and women

BACKGROUND: Aluminium is considered a bone toxic metal since poisoning can lead to aluminium-induced bone disease in patients with chronic renal failure. Healthy subjects with normal renal function retain 4% of the aluminium consumed. They might thus also accumulate aluminium and eventually be at risk of long-term low-grade aluminium intoxication that can affect bone health. METHODS: We therefore examined 62 patients with femoral neck fractures or osteoarthritis of the hip (age range 38–93), with the aim of examining whether aluminium in bone is associated with bone-mineral density (BMD), content (BMC) or width of the femoral neck measured by dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DXA). During operations bone biopsies were taken from the trabecular bone of the proximal femur. The samples were measured for their content of aluminium using a mass spectrometer. RESULTS: No significant association between the aluminium content in bone and femoral neck BMD, BMC or width could be found after multivariate adjustment. CONCLUSION: Our results indicate that the accumulated aluminium content in bone during life does not substantially influence the extent of osteoporosis