In 1845, a British explorer named John Franklin led an expedition of 138 people to the Arctic region, hoping to open up a new passage. Unexpectedly, they encountered a ruthless wind and snow on the way, and the whole team disappeared in the ice and snow. Later, Britain sent more than 30 expedition teams to the Arctic in fourteen years to find the whereabouts of Franklin and others. Finally, it was learned that all 138 people in their team died near a coast due to hunger and cold. It was the largest fatality in the history of Arctic exploration. A century and a half later, people are still puzzled by Franklin's death. Because 129 strong men, carrying enough equipment and supplies for more than three years, none of them survived. Even under the circumstances, this seemed to be difficult to explain. In the early 1980s, Dr. Bute of Canada became interested in this. He regarded the Franklin tragedy as a disaster and hoped to collect possible relics and skeletons on King William Island for research in order to judge and analyze the cause of their death. In June 1981, after careful collection, Bute's team found 31 human skeletons scattered around the ruins of a stone hut on the beach on the south coast of King William Island. Careful study and analysis showed that these bones belonged to the same person, a young man between 22 and 25 years old. Judging from the uneven surfaces of the relatively well-preserved bones, we can conclude that he was indeed suffering from scurvy in the months before his death. The even harsher fact is that they found three parallel knife marks on a leg bone. In addition, the bones were incomplete and it was obvious that they had been artificially dismembered. Therefore, they could only draw this conclusion: At that time, some people did eat their companions. In fact, this is not a new discovery. As early as 1854, based on information provided by local Eskimos, people came to the conclusion that the hungry crew had eaten human flesh to satisfy their hunger to prolong their survival. Later, Hall went deep into the Eskimos and learned more details. However, people do not believe it, or do not have the courage to believe it. And the facts are facts after all, and research more than 130 years later can only reach the same conclusion. This kind of thing not only happened in the past, but may happen under extremely special circumstances now and in the future. For example, in 1972, a plane crash in the Andes of Uruguay involved cannibalism. The question remains, why did this happen? In 1982, the first trace element analysis showed lead levels as high as 228 ppm (228 parts per million) in the bones of the unknown expedition member. However, the two Eskimo skeletons collected at the same location only had 22ppm and 36ppm. In other words, the lead content in the bones of the expedition members was 100 times higher than usual. This immediately attracted Bit's attention. But a test result is difficult to explain. It turned out that less than half a year after the Franklin expedition entered the North Pole, a young and strong crew member died soon after. Their bodies were buried on the island where they first overwintered. In 1984 and 1986, the Bit scientific investigation team came to the island twice to open coffins and conduct autopsies on three graves. When the lid of the coffin of Torrington, who died on January 1, 1846 at the age of 20, was opened, everyone was stunned. Although 138 years have passed, due to the ice and snow, it seems as if it has just died. The other two men, 25-year-old Hanel, died on April 3, 1846, in similar condition. These three people are all physically strong. Especially Torrington. According to records, he was a healthy and lively young man, but he fell ill and died less than 8 months after setting off. What was the cause? After all the test results came out, Franklin A new explanation for the expedition's deaths has emerged: they were likely due to severe lead poisoning. In Torington's hair, the lead content was as high as 423ppm to 657ppm, while the other two's levels were slightly lower, ranging from 138ppm to 313ppm and 145ppm to 280ppm, which are also quite high. Severe lead poisoning not only damages people's health and reduces their physical fitness, but also damages their nerve centers, causing their temperament to become crazy and their behavior to be out of control. Under such circumstances, the tragic ending of the expedition can be imagined. According to Bit analysis, although the sources of lead may be many, the main source should be canned food.
Canning was patented in the United States in 1811 and was used by the Royal Navy as a new technology. At that time, the solder used to seal cans was mainly an alloy of lead and tin, with a lead content of more than 90%. Another disadvantage of this type of solder is that the welded seams often leave many gaps, which can lead to food corrosion and deterioration. This resulted in two serious consequences: one was lead poisoning in the eater, and the other was that a considerable part of the canned food quickly deteriorated and became inedible. Both results were fatal for the Franklin expedition. This is probably the most fundamental reason why the Franklin expedition was completely wiped out. What one can say about this is that no matter what you do, you always have to pay a heavy price. In 1890, the British government officially enacted a law banning the use of solder inside food cans, but for Franklin, it was too late. Source: Travel Overview