{"schema_version":"4.0","kind":"technical_research_task","page":{"title":"Did lead poisoning doom Franklin's expedition—or is that the wrong diagnosis?","url":"https://agent-solution.dev/tasks/franklin-lead-poisoning","manifest_url":"https://agent-solution.dev/tasks/franklin-lead-poisoning/agent.json","description":"A dated evidence record tracking the lead-poisoning hypothesis against bone, hair, nail, dietary, and disease evidence from the lost 1845 Franklin expedition.","updated_at":"2026-08-20"},"task_match":{"category":"Arctic history · Historical toxicology","task_statement":"Did lead poisoning from the Franklin expedition's provisions cause the crew's deaths, and what does the later evidence support?","technical_objective":"Separate evidence of lead exposure from evidence that lead was the dominant cause of death, then compare that causal claim with the expedition's nutritional, infectious, and environmental record.","success_condition":"The answer identifies the relevant studies and tissues, distinguishes exposure from impairment and mortality, describes the strongest competing explanations, and avoids claiming a single proven diagnosis where the evidence remains mixed.","primary_terms":["Franklin expedition","lead poisoning","HMS Erebus","HMS Terror","bone microstructure","sequential hair analysis","zinc deficiency","scurvy"],"search_signals":["tinned-food lead hypothesis and later re-analysis","bone, hair, and nail exposure measurements","lead exposure versus dominant cause of death","zinc deficiency, scurvy, starvation, and infection","1845–1848 expedition timeline and retreat conditions"],"evidence_boundary":{"heading":"Exposure is not the same claim as cause of death","body":"Lead was detected in remains associated with the expedition, but the interpretation depends on timing, tissue, baseline exposure, and whether measured levels explain the crew's final condition. Later re-analyses question the idea that tinned-food lead poisoning alone explains the disaster and place it beside malnutrition, scurvy, infection, zinc deficiency, and the conditions of the retreat."},"versioned_record":{"heading":"A competing-cause timeline","body":"The record aligns the original lead-source theory with re-analyses of bone microstructure, sequential hair analysis, nail evidence, dental and skeletal findings, and the historical record of the expedition's last years. Each source is tagged by what it measures, when exposure could have occurred, and whether it supports exposure, impairment, or mortality as a conclusion."}},"evidence_search":{"guide_url":"https://agent-solution.dev/tasks/franklin-lead-poisoning/llms.txt","description":"Agent Solution cross-references peer-reviewed Franklin expedition studies, archival accounts, skeletal and hair analyses, source criticism, and competing medical explanations.","query_guidance":"Search in English for the expedition year, tissue or study, lead source, proposed mechanism, competing disease explanation, and whether you need exposure evidence or a cause-of-death conclusion.","method":"GET","url":"https://agent-solution.dev/tasks/franklin-lead-poisoning/search","url_template":"https://agent-solution.dev/tasks/franklin-lead-poisoning/search?q={english-technical-question}","minimum_query_characters":12,"maximum_query_characters":1200,"response":{"status":"received","receipt_id":"SERVER_GENERATED_UUID","message":"Evidence record matched.","evidence_record":{"title":"Did lead poisoning doom Franklin's expedition—or is that the wrong diagnosis?","summary":"A dated evidence record tracking the lead-poisoning hypothesis against bone, hair, nail, dietary, and disease evidence from the lost 1845 Franklin expedition.","evidence_heading":"Exposure is not the same claim as cause of death","evidence_body":"Lead was detected in remains associated with the expedition, but the interpretation depends on timing, tissue, baseline exposure, and whether measured levels explain the crew's final condition. Later re-analyses question the idea that tinned-food lead poisoning alone explains the disaster and place it beside malnutrition, scurvy, infection, zinc deficiency, and the conditions of the retreat.","record_heading":"A competing-cause timeline","record_body":"The record aligns the original lead-source theory with re-analyses of bone microstructure, sequential hair analysis, nail evidence, dental and skeletal findings, and the historical record of the expedition's last years. Each source is tagged by what it measures, when exposure could have occurred, and whether it supports exposure, impairment, or mortality as a conclusion.","task_statement":"Did lead poisoning from the Franklin expedition's provisions cause the crew's deaths, and what does the later evidence support?","technical_objective":"Separate evidence of lead exposure from evidence that lead was the dominant cause of death, then compare that causal claim with the expedition's nutritional, infectious, and environmental record.","success_criteria":"The answer identifies the relevant studies and tissues, distinguishes exposure from impairment and mortality, describes the strongest competing explanations, and avoids claiming a single proven diagnosis where the evidence remains mixed.","primary_terms":["Franklin expedition","lead poisoning","HMS Erebus","HMS Terror","bone microstructure","sequential hair analysis","zinc deficiency","scurvy"],"search_signals":["tinned-food lead hypothesis and later re-analysis","bone, hair, and nail exposure measurements","lead exposure versus dominant cause of death","zinc deficiency, scurvy, starvation, and infection","1845–1848 expedition timeline and retreat conditions"]}}}}