Napoleon, arsenic poisoning

Arsenic is one of the oldest and best known of poisons. It is so well known, in fact, that when the wonderful Frank Capra comedy Arsenic and Old Lace was released, everyone knew that it was going to be a murder mystery in which someone would be poisoned. In fact, it has even been rumoured that Napoleon died from arsenic poisoning, the arsenic coming from the green dye on his wallpaper. We deduce that even a small amount of arsenic will cause death, or at least an unpleasant and lingering illness. 

Arsenic is highly toxic, and indeed much speculation has surrounded arsenic poisoning as the cause of death of Napoleon Bonaparte, on account of the levels of As in the Emperor s hair (perhaps derived from fungal activity on a green pigment present in the wallpaper of his apartments in St. Helena). Arsenic trioxide has been approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) of the USA for the treatment of acute promyelocytic anaemia in adult patients who fail to respond to other chemotherapy, or have relapsed disease. 

The use of activation analysis in criminal investigations (forensic activation analysis) is also well established. The basic idea here is to match the trace-element distributions found in bullets, paint, oil, and so on found at the scene of a crime with the trace-element distributions in objects found with criminal suspects. Such identification is rapid and nondestructive (allowing the actual evidence to be presented in court). Moreover, the probability of its correctness can be ascertained quantitatively. Other prominent examples of the use of forensic activation analysis involve confirmation of the notion that Napoleon was poisoned (by finding significant amounts of arsenic in hair from his head) and the finding that the activation analysis of the wipe samples taken from a suspect s hand can reveal not only if he or she has fired a gun recently but also the type of gun and ammunition used. 

Lin, X., Alber, D. and Henkelmann, R. (2004) Elemental contents in Napoleon s hair cut before and after his death Did Napoleon die of arsenic poisoning Analytical and Bioanalytical Chemistry, 379(2), 218-20. 

Weider, B. and Fournier, J.H. (1999) Activation analyses of authenticated hairs of Napoleon bonaparte confirm arsenic poisoning. The American Journal of Forensic Medicine and Pathology, 20(4), 378-82. 

What did Napoleon I die of This question has puzzled generations of social and medical historians. As many as six different diseases had been proposed on the basis of historical evidence, none of which fit all the symptoms. Forshufvud, Smith, and Wassen (5) postulated that the real cause was arsenic poisoning. They studied hair samples taken immediately after Napoleon s death by neutron activation analysis. The results... 

Napoleon Bonaparte died on the island of St Helena where he was Imprisoned. He suspected that he had been poisoned, asserting that I die at the hands of my enemies . Arsenic was a poison commonly used at the time and It Is known that arsenic will localize in hair, where it can be detected. Locks of Napoleon s hair exist and have been analysed for arsenic. Sure enough, arsenic was detected in some of the specimens, in some cases at apparently high levels, but more recent evidence has not shown such high levels. Furthermore, Napoleon did not show the classic signs of arsenic poisoning in the skin, and the post-mortem revealed that he had a large tumour in his stomach. 

We will probably never know whether Napoleon died from arsenic poisoning, intentional or accidental, but this exercise in historical sleuthing provides a fascinating example of the use of chemical analysis. Not only is chemical analysis used in forensic science, but it also plays an essential part of endeavors ranging from pure research to practical applications, such as quality control of commercial products and medical diagnosis. 

Napoleon Bonaparte died in captivity on the island St Helena in 1821. The doctors did not agree about the cause of death. Was it poisoning There is no doubt that the cause was in fact arsenic poisoning, but that does not necessarily imply murder. After Napoleon s death, his hair was tested. The arsenic content was determined to be... 

Napoleon s story has recently taken an unexpected mm up-to-date smdies have revealed that arsenic poisoning was probably not the culprit in this who-done-it. He is now believed to have died of peptic ulcer and historic gastric cancer. Interestingly, wallpaper from... 

This technique was applied in the early 1960s to a lock of hair taken from Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821) on St Helena. Arsenic levels of up to 50 times normal suggested he may have been a victim of poisoning, perhaps on orders from the French royal family. 

One of the most famous applications in forensic science is the analysis of Napoleon s hair by ICP-MS after mineralization in concentrated nitric acid whereby an arsenic concentration about 40 times higher than normal (about 40p,gg 1) was measured (see Section 9.5). Ingested arsenic is known to be stored in sulfydryl rich tissue, like hair, nails or skin. ETV-ICP-MS combined with isotope dilution has been employed to measure thallium in human scalp hair from a person poisoned by thallium compared to control subjects, whereby several longitudinal concentration gradients for the analyzed segments (length 10 mm) were obtained.28... 

Perhaps, the most controversial death possibly involving arsenic is that of Napoleon Bonaparte (1769-1821), the French Emperor. Despite extensive studies over the past several decades, controversies still continue over Napoleon s death and whether accidental poisoning or assassination with arsenic was involved. Most historians have traditionally argued that Napoleon Bonaparte died of gastric ( stomach ) cancer in exile on the island of St. Helena in 1821. The autopsy report of Napoleon s death was not questioned for many years because Napoleon s father probably died of the disease (Lugli et al., 2007), 52. Since 1961, however, analyses of Napoleon s hair at the time of his death found high concentrations of arsenic in some, but not all, of the samples. Some experts suspected that Napoleon died of arsenic... 

Thus it is uniikeiy that Napoleon was deliberately poisoned but he may have been chronically exposed to arsenic from one or more sources. 

Arsenic is readily detected the Marsh test was devised in 1836 and was used for over a hundred years. More sophisticated and very sensitive methods are now available, using X-ray analysis or a technique known as mass spectrometry which detects the arsenic atoms. Even before the Marsh test a careful scientific process of experiment would sometimes be successful, as demonstrated by the doctor in the case of Mary Blandy in 1752 (see case notes p. 223). Arsenic remains in tissues of the body for a long time, hence analysis of Napoleon s hair was possible long after his death (see case notes p. 222). The sensitive analysis of hair and nails from the body of American president Zachary Taylor, exhumed in 1991, also established that he was not poisoned in 1850. 

Part of the evidence that Napoleon Bonaparte suffered poisoning during his exile at St. Helena Island rests upon finding increased concentrations of arsenic in hair samples taken from the emperor s scalp. 

Analysis of Napoleon s and Beethoven s hair revealed that they had excessive concentrations of arsenic and lead, respectively. Napoleon was definitely poisoned with the arsenic while Beethoven suffered from lead toxicity that may have been responsible for his lifelong illness that affected his personality and caused his death. Evidence for these poisons became known only recently with the introduction of advanced analytical techniques. Were the poisons administered intentionally or accidentally via foods ... 

After his defeat at Waterloo in 1815, Napoleon was exiled to St. Helena, a small island in the Atlantic Ocean, where he spent the last six years of his hfe. In the 1960s, samples of his hair were analyzed and found to contain a high level of arsenic, snggesting that he might have been poisoned. The prime suspects are the governor of St. Helena, with whom Napoleon did not get along, and the French royal family, who wanted to prevent his return to France. 

Copper(II) hydrogen arsenite (CUHASO3) is a green pigment once used in wallpaper in fact, forensic evidence suggests that Napoleon may have been poisoned by arsenic from his wallpaper. In damp conditions, mold metabolizes this compound to trimethylarsenic [(CH3)3As], a highly toxic gas. 

Emperor Napoleon was confined to the island of St Helena in 1816. He died in 1821, convinced that he was being poisoned by his captives, the British authorities. Although a post-mortem examination suggested that Napoleon suffered from an advanced cancer and from hepatitis, many people have since speculated that he was slowly poisoned with arsenic in order to prevent him from re-emerging as a political force in Europe. 

These findings do not imply poisoning by any means. There is no dramatic difference between the arsenic contents of the hairs of Napoleon and his son. Historical records show that Napoleon 11 died of tuberculosis, and there was no reason to suspect poisoning, let alone murder with arsenic. Even more revealing is the fact that hairs from Napoleon himself at the age of 1 already contained high amounts of arsenic compared to today s average values. Napoleon could not have been poisoned on Saint Helena—at least not with arsenic. Had this actually happened, hairs form Saint Helena would show a much higher arsenic content than earlier ones. 

In the early nineteenth century, certain green wallpapers contained copper arsenite (Scheele s green) as a dyestuff. In damp conditions, moulds, such as Scopulariopsis bevicaulis, are able to convert the arsenic to the very toxic AsMc3, by a B 2-dependent pathway, and many people died before the problem was recognized. It has even been argued" that in 1821 Napoleon was accidentally poisoned in this way, when he was held at St. Helena by the British others have blamed the British for deliberately poisoning him. " ... 

Longwood House on Saint Helena Island, where Napoleon lived in exUe, had a particular green floral pattern. Wallpaper of that time was made vivid green by using copper arsenite (Scheele s green) in the paint. When copper arsenite becomes damp (not unlikely, considering that the house was on an island), it is converted by molds into trimethylarsine gas, and it is most likely that it was this gas, not an assassin s poison, that was the source of the arsenic found sequestered in Napoleon s hair. 

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