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A new series of hair analyses from Napoleon confirms chronic exposure to arsenic.

Napoleon Bonaparte died on the island of Sainte H~l~ne on May 5, 1821. Since the end of the 20th century, there has been a debate on the manner of death of the Emperor, as revealed by numerous publications, including several books. The official thesis is that Napoleon died from carcinoma of the stomach complicated by gastric bleeding that may have been precipitated by the large dosage of calomel given the day before he died. Since 1964 and the presentation (1) of the results of the analysis (using neutronic activation) of NaPoleon's hair by the Harwell Nuclear Research Laboratory of the University of Glasgow that demonstrated high arsenic content, there has been a great controversy about the final conclusions involving a criminal poisoning. In 1999, these results were reviewed by Weider and Fournier (2), who confirmed the arsenic poisoning issue. Several hairs attributed to the Emperor have been tested around the world, and in most cases, they exhibited arsenic content in higher amounts than the physiological concentrations of the present time. The normal arsenic background for the early 19th century is not known. In 1998, Hindmarsh and Corso (3) published a compendium of these results (about 20 analyses). The arsenic poisoning thesis was contested by the official version, according to the following elements: 1. the hair specimens did not belong to Napoleon; 2. an external contamination (including contamination through the wallpaper, exposure to coal smoke, the use of arsenic-containing cosmetics, or the use of arsenic to preserve hair samples) can explain positive arsenic results; and 3. arsenic ingestion (e.g., arsenic-containing tonic or arsenic occuring naturally in the water supply) is possible (4-6). In this particular climate of controversy among people actively involved in history and biology, in December 2002 our laboratory received five hair specimens attributed to Napoleon. These specimens were presented by Dr. Ben Weider, President of the International Napoleonic Society (Montreal, QC, Canada), with the request to test for arsenic.