Toxicological analyses of the bone matrix
Successes and challenges
Bibliographic Data
This study aimed to conduct an in‐depth and systematic literature review dealing with toxicological analyses on human bone tissue and focusing on the forensic toxicological and archaeotoxicological field. Several studies have focused their research on medical drugs, drugs of abuse, and trace elements on both human cadavers and skeletal remains, but a few studies tried to detect some traces of officinal plants in skeletal remains. The present paper illustrates the significant advances made in recent years in the field of bone toxicology considering all cases reported in the literature. After the literature review, the study investigated 40 articles that applied bone toxicology to both recent and ancient human remains, researching the presence of trace elements, stable isotopes, medical drugs, drugs of abuse, and active principles of medical plants. This allowed us to evaluate the distribution of skeletal remains studied around the world and throughout history, and to highlight the differences between trace elements/stable isotopes and medical drugs/drugs of abuse. Finally, this study permitted us to gather more information on molecule consumption (acute/single and/or occasional/chronic drug use) in this unconventional biological matrix, both in forensic cases and very ancient human remains, suggesting that the analytes detected in bones should be referred to occasional or chronic intake of substances
Biology · Bone matrix · Chromatography · Matrix (chemical analysis) · Anatomy · Animal testing and alternatives · Bone health and osteoporosis research · Chemistry · Environmental Science · Orthopaedic implants and arthroplasty
Comparison of mercury and lead levels in the bones of rural and urban populations in Southern Denmark and Northern Germany during the Middle Ages
Trabecular bone mass and bone content of diet-related Trace elements among the Prehispanic inhabitants of the western Canary Islands
Forensic toxicological analyses reveal the use of cannabis in Milano (Italy) in the 1600's
Mercury levels in Danish Medieval human bones
Trace and heavy metals in infants, analysis of long bones from Ficana, Italy, 8–6th century bc
The Role of Toxicological Analyses in Anthropology
Mercury poisoning in two patients with tertiary syphilis from the Ca’ Granda hospital (17th‐century Milan)
Patterning of Skeletal Lead Content in Barbados Slaves
Evaluation of lead concentrations in 18th‐century Omaha Indian skeletons using ICP‐MS
Analysis of mercury levels in historical bone material from syphilitic subjects - pilot studies (short report)
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 2 |
| Citation span | 2026 - 2026 (1) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 1 |