Lead and scurvy were fatal
Scurvy literally made many of Sir John Franklin’s men fall apart, whereas others died eating rotten canned food.
In the early 1980s, anthropologist Owen Beattie and a team of scientists followed in the footsteps of Franklin and his men, from Edmonton, Canada, to King William Island. The anthropologist found the frozen bones of several crew members, noting that the corpses were characterised by severe lack of vitamin C – a terrible confirmation of the dreaded sailor's disease: scurvy.
Moreover, the concentration of lead in the bones, hair, and skin of the crew members was 20 % higher than the normal level. Beattie compared the lead in the corpses with cans that had been discovered near one of Franklin’s abandoned camps in 1850, concluding that it was the same. So, the expedition had been poisoned by cans that had not been sufficiently sealed. Lead poisoning can make people crazy, cause brain injury, and make people lose their ability to size up a situation.
And as if this were not enough, the crew was also badly affected by food poisoning. Before leaving England, Franklin had ordered 8,000 cans from Stephan Goldner. The food manufacturer was late, so he saved boiling time. According to scientists, that is the reason why the members of Franklin’s expedition also had botulism. Lack of vitamin C, also known as scurvy, primarily causes loss of teeth. The majority of the expedition members died of scurvy, whereas others suffered food poisoning due to tainted canned meat, etc.