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Metals in bones of the middle-aged inhabitants of Sardinia island (Italy) to assess nutrition and environmental exposure

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Abstract

Metals in bones of 72 subjects lived between the twelfth and eighteenth century AC and collected in four Sardinian (Italian insular region) burial sites (Alghero, Bisarcio, Geridu, and Sassari) were determined and used as biomarkers to evaluate diet and potential social-environmental differences. Concentrations of Ba, Ca, Cd, Cu, Hg, Pb, Sr, and Zn were quantified in different types of compact bone (femur, fibula, humerus, radius, tibia, ulna) by sector field inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry previous acidic digestion and differences among the various burial sites, centuries, types of bone, gender, and age were explored by univariate and multivariate analyses. Results indicated differences between sites in terms of diet: Bisarcio (inland village) had increased ratios of Ba/Ca and Zn/Ca due to higher incidence of vegetables, cereals, and animal foods in the diet; Geridu (coastal village) showed increased Sr/Ca ratio indicating foods of plant and marine origin that were predominant; Alghero (coastal site) and Sassari (inland site) displayed prevalently a mixed diet reflecting a higher economy and food imports. In addition, these latter sites showed increased levels of Hg/Ca (fish, drugs, cosmetics) and Pb/Ca (coins, utensils, pipeline for water). In conclusion, the elemental Ba/Ca, Sr/Ca, and Zn/Ca ratios were indicative of provenance and diet, while Hg/Ca and Pb/Ca ratios were associated to various forms of environmental exposure.

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Author notes

  1. Pasquale Bandiera and Roberto Madeddu contributed equally to this work.

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Italian National Institute for Health, Viale Regina Elena 299, 00161, Rome, Italy

    Beatrice Bocca & Giovanni Forte

  2. Division of Paleopathology, Department of Translational Research and New Technologies in Medicine and Surgery, University of Pisa, Pisa, Italy

    Valentina Giuffra

  3. Centre for Anthropological, Paleopathological and Historical Studies of the Sardinian and Mediterranean Populations, Department of Biomedical Sciences, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy

    Valentina Giuffra, Rita Maria Serra & Pasquale Bandiera

  4. Department of Biomedical Sciences—Histology, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy

    Yolande Asara, Cristiano Farace, Eugenia Tognotti, Andrea Montella & Roberto Madeddu

  5. Department of History, Human Sciences and Education, University of Sassari, Sassari, Italy

    Marco Milanese

  6. National Institute of Biostructures and Biosystems, Rome, Italy

    Roberto Madeddu

Authors
  1. Beatrice Bocca
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  2. Giovanni Forte
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  3. Valentina Giuffra
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  4. Rita Maria Serra
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  5. Yolande Asara
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  6. Cristiano Farace
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  7. Marco Milanese
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  8. Eugenia Tognotti
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  9. Andrea Montella
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  10. Pasquale Bandiera
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  11. Roberto Madeddu
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Giovanni Forte.

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Responsible editor: Michel Sablier

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Bocca, B., Forte, G., Giuffra, V. et al. Metals in bones of the middle-aged inhabitants of Sardinia island (Italy) to assess nutrition and environmental exposure. Environ Sci Pollut Res 25, 8404–8414 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-1140-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-1140-6

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