U of S researchers play a pivotal role into providing new insights regarding the fate of the Franklin Expedition. It was an 11-member team including University of Saskatchewan researchers that studied the fate of the Franklin Expedition of 1845, and their conclusions go against what has become the most popular theory as to why the crew died.
The two ship expedition to study the Arctic set sail from England in 1845.  The ships became ice-bound in 1846 and 2 years later, they decided to March south, leading to their death. U of S researcher, David Cooper, says lead poisoning has been a popular theory as to why the crew died but through synchrotron research, they were able to conclude otherwise. Previously, large amounts of lead were found in the bones, but now with new technology, Cooper says they were able to see that the lead exposure was over the course of a lifetime, rather than a significant amount during the Expedition.
The team also compared the lead from the Franklin sailors with British sailors in the Caribbean around the same time period, and they also had a lifetime of lead exposure in their bones. The question still remains as to why the crew left their ships and what caused their death. Cooper says there is no evidence for a specific cause of death, but it was the Arctic and they were starving, and had nutritional deficiencies, so he believes all of those would have been contributing factors. He adds that the Canadian Light Source synchrotron pulls together all sort of research that this province otherwise might not be a part of. Cooper says it’s exciting for the city, the province and the university to be a hub for this kind of work.