Hair Analysis Hints at Beethoven’s Health Status

BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS—According to a Live Science report, analysis of two hair samples attributed to Ludwig van Beethoven by a team of researchers including Nader Fifai of Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School and William Meredith of San José State University has detected high levels of heavy metals, including lead, arsenic, and mercury. DNA analysis of the hair samples indicated that they both came from the same person, or from a set of identical twins. The DNA analysis also determined that the individual had been infected with hepatitis B, which carries a high risk of liver disease. The researchers suggest that the levels of toxic metals in the samples could have contributed to hearing loss; gastrointestinal issues; and jaundice, a symptom of liver disease, all known to have been suffered by the eighteenth-century composer. The researchers think Beethoven may have ingested high levels of lead by drinking wine, which was often dosed with lead acetate as a sweetener and preservative. Glass wine bottles were also made with traces of lead at the time. Meanwhile, fish caught in the Danube River for human consumption were likely contaminated with arsenic and mercury, the researchers explained. Read the original scholarly article about this research in Clinical Chemistry. To read about a Roman town that is near to Vienna, the City of Music where Beethoven lived, go to "Off the Grid: Carnuntum, Austria."