To separate lifetime exposure from post-burial contamination, the researchers compared bone signatures to burial soil using isotopic analysis at the Neptune Isotope Lab, confirming that heavy-metal signals reflect lifelong exposure.

Pourmand emphasizes that this work represents a rare collaboration between anthropologists and isotope geochemists to illuminate individual lives during the Industrial era.

McGuire also frames the research as informing current policies to safeguard at-risk groups from environmental exposures in the future.

A multidisciplinary study published in Science Advances analyzes lifetime exposure to heavy metals in skeletal remains from 94 individuals in two English towns—industrial South Shields and rural Barton-upon-Humber—by combining historical data with bone geochemistry and isotopic analysis.

The research challenges the simple urban-versus-rural narrative of pollution during the Industrial Revolution, showing that health impacts varied by local industry, social context, and individual biosocial identity.

Key collaborators and affiliations include the University of Miami, Ohio State University, Michigan State University, the Smithsonian Institution, Nashua Community College, Seton Hall University, and the Neptune Isotope Lab, with Sara McGuire and Ali Pourmand as the lead authors.

Coauthors span institutions such as the University of Miami, Nashua Community College, Seton Hall University, the Smithsonian Institution, The Ohio State University, and the University of Michigan, reflecting broad collaboration across disciplines.

The study provides an objective physiological record of industrialization’s health impacts and demonstrates how bioarchaeological data can reveal injustices and inform policy to protect vulnerable populations from pollutant exposure in both the past and present.

Corresponding author Ali Pourmand notes the collaboration between anthropology and isotope geochemistry and explains the challenge of distinguishing lifetime exposure signals from burial-related contamination.

Lead author Sara McGuire stresses that the findings highlight past injustices and have policy relevance for protecting vulnerable populations from similar exposures today, drawing parallels to contemporary issues such as the Flint water crisis.

The team used long bones and isotope analysis (Pb and Sr) and a multi-collector mass spectrometer to validate that results reflect life-course exposure rather than posthumous contamination.

The article, titled Geochemical Tales of Individual Lives in the Industrial Revolution: Untangling the Impacts of Pollutant Exposure in Two English Towns, was published on December 10, 2024, in Science Advances and involved researchers from the listed institutions.