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Physics of rare events insights on Napoleon
death
Ettore Fiorini LNGS NOW , Sept.7, 2008
First gt A justification

• Searches for rare events to be carried out
  underground and under low environmental and
  internal radioactivity
• Suppression of the background

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How to rekognize the presence of few disturbing
elements

• If they are radioactive gt a and g ray
  spectroscopy, ICPMS
• Neutron Activation Analysis
• Could sometimes reach the best sensitivity

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Application to Roman Lead

• Lead is an excellent shielding material
• High atomic number
• Reasonable mechanical properties
• Reasonable cost
• It contains however 210 Pb b active
  with an half lifetime of 22.3 years
• Especially dangerous for searches on WIMPS. Low
  energy counting rates

No presence of 210 Pb lt 4 m Bq/kg) , what about
U and Th ?With neutron activation analysis lt
10-12 g/g
Particularly sensitive to search for As?only
stable isotope 75Assthermal neutrons 4.3
barns gt 76As gt beta t 26.3 d and emission of
a 559.1 keV g ray
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Il cinque maggio .........e i dì nell'ozio
chiuse in sì breve sponda,segno d'immensa
invidiae di pietà profonda,d'inestinguibil
odioe d'indomato amor.
The use of our powerful method to investigate the
presence of arsenic in hairs of historical origin
Arsenic, like other heavy metals concentrates in
hairs Its presence used in criminology. Many
previous measurements on Napoleon hairs gt poor
instrumentation and often inconclusive result
High school remembrance of Alessandro
Manzoni
The fifth of May.........and his idle days
closed in such a short site,target of immense
envyand of deep pity,of unchanged hateand
of untamable love
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Saint Helene
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Previous measurements

• Assasination strongly substained by B.Weider and
  P.Hapgood initially based on
• Neutron activation measurements at Harwell on
  suggestion of S.Forthuvud
• ? 10 38 ppm of As , later
• ? 11 3 ppm and time distribution (no
  error)

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Later negative measurements
Measurement on the tapisserie of the Longwood
House

• X-ray fluorescence analysis on the paper on the
  walls
• 0.08 g cm-2 a value presently non acceptable

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Other negative results

• Neutron activation (2.5 x 10 11 n cm-2 s-1 for
  15 hours) with g ray spectroscopy gt 1.4 1.2
  ppm. Assumes no poisoning
• Neutron activation with g ray spectroscopy
• gt Elba Isle 1.85 .11 ppm.
• gt Saint Helene 3.5 0.18 ppm and 33.3
  0. 2.2 ppm (bad treatment)
• ? A living man and woman 32 3 and 33
  2 ppb
• Assumes no poisoning
• Neutron activation with g ray spectroscopy
  (Saclay, unpublished)
• gt Saint Helene Two hairs with an
  average of 4.5 ppm

B.Weider insists
Atomic Absorption Spectroscopy (P.Kinz) gt 6.99
58.53 ppm FBI (neutron activation analysis on
two hairs ) gt 33.3 and 14 ppm
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Our experiment (strongly suported by INFN)

• A multisciplinary research group
• The same precision as in neutrino physics
• Only hystorical material from certified
  institutions
• Mainly during vacations (with the exclusion of
  neutron activation)

• Massimiliano Clemenza, Ettore Fiorini, Laura
  Guerra, Costanza Herborg, Massimo Labra, Edoardo
  Orvini, Adalberto Piazzoli, Ezio Previtali,
  Francesco Puggioni, Angela Santagostino
• Fundamental physics Neutron activation
  Toxicologists Hystorian
• All neutron activations carried out at the TRIGA
  Mark II of the Laboratorio di Energia Nucleare
  Applicata of the Pavia University
• (thermal neutron flux of 1.2 1013 n cm-2 s-1
• g ray spectroscopy in Milano-Bicocca and Pavia
  and measurement of the hair mass in
  Milano-Bicocca

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Hystorical materials used in this search From
the Napoleonic (Rome), Glauco Lombardi (Parma)
and Malmaison (Paris) Museums
Capello Massa (mg)
Capello
Massa (mg) Odierno 1
0,122 Aiglon 1826
1 0,138 Odierno 2
0,112
Aiglon 1826 2
0,108 Odierno 3 0,096
Napoleone Corsica 1
0,180 Odierno 4
0,138 Napoleone
Corsica 2 0,274 Odierno 5
0,220
Napoleone Elba 1
0,232 Odierno 6 0,066
Napoleone Elba 2
0.188 Odierno 7
0,118 Napoleone
S. Elena 5 maggio 1 0,126 Odierno 8
0.126
Napoleone S. Elena 5 maggio 2 0,166 Odierno 9
0,148
Napoleone S. Elena 5 maggio 3
0,090 Odierno 10 0,230
Napoleone S. Elena 5
maggio 4 0,130 Aiglon 1812 1 0,106
Napoleone S.
Elena 5 maggio 5 0,224 Aiglon 1812 2
0,088 Napoleone
S. Elena 5 maggio 6 0,148 Aiglon 1816 1
0,132
Napoleone S. Elena 6 maggio 1 0,254 Aiglon 1816
2 0,104
Napoleone S. Elena 6 maggio 2 0,328 Aiglon
1821 1 0,078
Josephine 1
0,268 Aiglon 1821 2 0,060
Josephine 2
0,294
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Certified calibrated standards have been used
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Measurements on the As content in the hairs of
a living subject, and comparison with the content
in the hairs of the Aiglon and of Empress
Josephine

• Aignon and Josephine
• As (in ppm)
• Aiglon 1812 - 1 9,4 1,0
• Aiglon 1812 - 2 6,1 0,6
• Aiglon 1816 - 1 12,6 1,3
• Aiglon 1816 - 2 9,9 1,0
• Aiglon 1821 - 1 9,9 1,1
• Aiglon 1821 - 2 11,2 1,3
• Aiglon 1826 - 1 7,6 0,8
• Aiglon 1826 - 2 8,5 0,9
• Josephine - 1 0,8 0,4
• Josephine 2 1,2 0,5

Capello contemporaneo As(in 10-2 ppm) Odierno
1 8,6 ,9 Odierno 2 5,6 1,8 Odierno 3
11,0 3,5 Odierno 4 12,4 3,9 Odierno 5
2,4 1,1 Odierno 6 7,1 2,8 Odierno 7
5,4 1,7 Odierno 8 4,0 1,4 Odierno 9
4,3 3,1 Odierno 10 4,8 2
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Arsenic in the hairs of the Emperor
Capello
As (in ppm) Corsica 1770 1
8.3 0,9 Corsica 1770 - 2
6,3 0,7 Elba 1814 1
4,4 0,5 Elba 1814 - 2
3,5 0,4 S. Elena
5 maggio 1821 - 1 13,1 1,3 S. Elena
5 maggio 1821 - 2 16,7 1,7 S. Elena
5 maggio 1821 - 3 14,2 1,4 S. Elena
5 maggio 1821 - 4 17,0 1,7 S. Elena
5 maggio 1821 - 5 15,4 2,3 S. Elena
5 maggio 1821 - 6 18,9 2,2 S. Elena
6 maggio 1821 - 1 15,2 2,0 S. Elena
6 maggio 1821 2 9,7 1,
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Change of the contamination along the hair(the
mass has decreased due to irradiation)
Frammento Massa (mg) As (in ppm) 2A
0,012 27,6
3,0 2B 0,022
22,0 2,5 2C 0,026
21,4 2,5 2D
0,032 17,5 2,0 2E
0,032 16,6 1,9 2F
0,026 20,7 2,4
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Arsenic content in the water of the spring
liked by the Emperor (near his first grave)
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• Aliquote campioni As (µg/L)
• N.1 1,0000
• N.2 1,5000
• N.3 2,0000
• N.4 1,2500
• N.5 1,1000
• N.6 0,8000
• media 1,28 .43
• Limite attualmente accettato 10
• More recently
• Napoleon strikes again!
• Large impact in the national and international
  press
• Recent paper on the New York Times

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Hair Analysis Deflates Napoleon Poisoning
Theories
Was Napoleon poisoned?
now, a team of scientists at Italys National
Institute of Nuclear Physics in Milan-Bicocca and
Pavia has uncovered strong evidence to the
contrary.
Contact with many toxicologists and with
prof.A.Lugli Very precise pathological analysis
Change of the weight with time from 12 samples
of trousers (checked with volunteers) Connection
of the weight with subcutaneous fat from
authopsy of 270 patients Comparison of pictures
of gastric lesions and other features of
patients dyying of cancer with the very detailed
authopsy of Francesco Antonmarchi (pupil of the
famous Giuseppe Macagni of Siena University)

In conclusion, we believe that the original
autopsy findings and our analysis of Napoleons
lifetime weight changes provide strong support
for the hypothesis that Napoleons final defeat
was caused by gastric cancer.
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Conclusions

• Our measurements on hairs of presently living
  people indicate a presence of arsenic two order
  of magnitude less than those of hystorical
  people
• The procedure to attribute the large amount of
  Arsenic in Napoleon hairs to state his poisoning
  is wrong
• The arsenic presence in the larger sample of
  hairs of Napoleon after his death ever measured
  is in agreement among the various components and
  comparable to those measured in the King of Rome
  in four different period of his life
• The concentration of arsenic in Napoleon hairs
  in Saint Helene is larger than he was in in the
  Elba Isle , but is not such to justify the
  criminal hypothesis which would require a
  concentration of 45 ppm or larger. This is
  confirmed by the concentration with time along
  one hair and indicate a cronic exposure due to
  environmental reasons
• Previous and present detailed clinical analisis
  strongly confirm our results

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