Didn't Die from Mercury or Lead Poisoning

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SCIENCE NOTEBOOK

Compiled from reports by Rob Stein.

Monday, August 16, 1999; Page A07

's Death Not From Metal

Historians have long debated whether President died from

mercury and lead poisoning from medicines he took or perhaps the two bullets

that were lodged in his body for years. New tests on snippets of his hair,

however, indicate that while the nation's seventh president was exposed to

mercury and lead, they probably did not contribute to his death.

's 19th-century doctors treated him with calomel, which contains

mercury, and sugar of lead, which contains lead, two commonly used compounds

in 's day. Old Hickory also had lead bullets in his left lung and

left shoulder, " a consequence of his propensity to settle disputes with

guns, " according to a report in the Aug. 11 issue of the Journal of the

American Medical Association.

" exhibited many symptoms and signs compatible with mercury poisoning

and [lead poisoning], including excessive salivation, rapid tooth loss,

colic, diarrhea, pallor, hand tremor, irritability, paranoia, violent mood

swings and probably chronic renal failure, " wrote Ludwig M. Deppisch of

Northside Hospital in Youngstown, Ohio, and colleagues.

Deppisch and his colleagues obtained two samples of 's hair kept by

the Hermitage, 's home outside Nashville, and tested them for mercury

and lead. While levels of both metals were elevated, neither was high enough

to kill him, though he probably did experience some health problems due to

lead exposure, the researchers said.

" 's death was probably not due to heavy metal poisoning, " they

concluded.

Instead, his death at age 78 in 1845 was most likely due to kidney failure,

the researchers said.