Document 65pM1nr1QXjDezzgozy3GEQXR

Americans Absorb Huget^tijOases, Autopsy of Egyptian Mummy Says' By Aimt.l'll k a t z 0/ Hm* Huttetia Staff A 2,RQ0-y*ftr*old Fgypfiffa imiimuy lias yielded evidence indicMing (hat Americans may he absorbing JliO times iiHirc lead than did the am clrnt Egyptians. t They may also 1*c absorbing 2'* limes more cadmium, anoilier of Hie heavy metals used in industry today. The findings serve as a dra* malic illustration of how man's environment has be come polluted over the ages. The mummy w h s donated to the University Museum of the thmeisity of Pennsylvania In lf> in' the tale John Wana- iiink/i, lli<* meirhmtt. `AowpsJcs* Conducted List May it was cut open 8t Ihc/museum, and Philadelphia Dr. Solomon II. Katz scientists (hen began a series of ['`autopsies** on the vital orpins. Jibe mummy practically haunted everybody," quipped on< of the scientists, Dr. Solo* man II. Katz, assistant cura tor of physical anthropology at Hie museum. Carbon H tests indicated tltat the mummy was the re mains of a male in his middle 40s u*lm lived during the 22d Egyptian Dynasty and died around M2 B.C., plus or minus $0 years. This was around (he time that King Solomon reigned in Israel. Denial tests were performed on the mummy by !>r. Irving M. Shapiro, associate profes sor of microbiology at the University of Pennsylvania School of Denial Medicine. The tests were somewhat in conclusive. They were based on the knowledge that traces of metals and lend collect in the leeth and bones of human beings over their lifespan. In the case of the mummy, testing by a method known as anodic stripping voltametry led to the discovery that lead in Its teeth measured con servatively at 1.7 pans per million parts of tooth. Small Industries . Today the lead content In the human dentine (the princi pal mass of a tooth) has been found to measure 300 to 400 parts per million, depending on the age of the person and where he has lived. "Since wc have known that lead Is useful,** Dr. Shapiro said, "we have mined it afl over the world. It Is spread everywhere Into our soil and plants and Into the air. This accounts fur the dramatic in crease of lead in uur teeth." Minerals Remain j On the other hand, the mummy's lifespan was in an era in which the /tanufac- fining process consisted of local handcrafts aid small home industries, yluivmily Museum nrrheofopids David O'Connor and Lanny Pelt said. Even the smelling of iron, which yields lead*as a bypro duct, was not practiced in Egypt.until 2 of 3 centuries Jafter the mummy's death, they added. Dr. Katz saia that teeth pro vide a unique yrnnhcul of mea suring miiKlal absorption. Once death Occurs, he said, tooth decay Aids and the min erals collect/d in them remain. Dr. Irvin/ Millman, associ ate memhm' of the. Institute for Cancer Research, search ed the. mummy for samples of blood amvtissue proteins, hut came up Instead with proteins from wh/i may be hactrria 2,- 850 yeaif old. Dr. hyllman thinks that the bacteria entered the body just after dfith and before the cm- balmitui process. Dr. iMillmun's study was carried) on with the coopera tion df Dr. Baruch S. Blumberpj professor of medicine ana medical gcnectics at Peril's School of Medicine; Amyt O'Connell, research as sistant at the Institute for Caiccr Research, and Dr. Mi* ch.*l Zimmerman, assistant professor of pathology ai Penn's medical school. Will Be Put Together Dr. Zimmerman found a deep bacterial decomposition of the lungs. He also found what he described as a focal area of calcification in the lungs which may have been either tuberculosis or a fungal disease. Further lasts are being made. Afterward the mummy will be put together again and returned to the museum. N39135 - QEC 1 o 1972 H HUD Accused' Of Not Acting On Lead Paint Attorneys tor the Citywide Coalition Against'Chlldhood Lead Paint (Poisoning late ySlEfOay asked Ull! u!i. Dis trict Court to force the U.S Department o! Housing and Urban Development to stop selling or transferring proper ties unfit lead-based paint In the properties is eliminated. Last August ilhe coalition, represented by attorney Ge orge D. Gould if Community . Legal .Services, filed a suit in federal court a king that lead paint be remov d. Yesterday, h wever, Gould in a petition, charged that "HUD has igm red the doucmenlary evider :c of the lf.S, Department of ealth, Educa tion and Welfai ` on the sub ject of the ha ards of lead paint." Gould's petition states fur ther that the duty to eliminate this health hazard mainly In - connection with small children . has not been met by HUD. | "If lead paint poisoning haz ards are not alleviated, chil dren will suffer irreparable harm and injury resulting In death, brain damage, mental retardation, blindness and kid ney disease," the petition states.