In this post and podcast, we discuss a relatively new find that might be the cause of the significant tooth loss described by Doctor Dwyer, the man who carried out the autopsy on the body of the man found on Somerton Beach on the morning of December 1st. 1948.
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The 1948 Somerton Man case remains one of the most puzzling mysteries, and over the intervening years...
The 1948 Somerton Man case remains one of the most puzzling mysteries, and over the intervening years, forensic investigations have raised various questions about the state of his body, including the fact that he was missing 18 teeth at the time of his death.
One possible but lesser-known factor worth considering is the use of Doramad Radioactive Toothpaste, developed in Germany in the 1920s. Doramad contained small amounts of thorium, a radioactive element marketed under the false premise of improving oral hygiene and strengthening teeth.
While no direct evidence links Doramad toothpaste to the Somerton Man, exposure to radioactive substances such as thorium can have long-term detrimental effects on dental and bone health. Radioactive elements like thorium can accumulate in bone tissue, and prolonged exposure could potentially lead to osteoradionecrosis—the death of bone cells due to radiation exposure. This condition can weaken the jawbone and lead to tooth loss, which raises the question of whether the Somerton Man could have used such products, or been exposed to similar radiation sources, contributing to his dental condition.
Although Doramad was marketed as a product to strengthen teeth, the risks of using radioactive substances in dental products were not fully understood at the time. If the Somerton Man had been exposed to such products, it might provide a speculative explanation for his missing teeth. However, without specific evidence, this remains a hypothesis worth further exploration.
There is a wiki that describes Doramad, you'll find the wiki at en.wikipedia.org forward slash wiki forward slash Doramad underscore Radioactive underscore toothpaste.
An Interesting Historical Aside: Thorium Theft During World War two while Germany occupied France, the Nazis systematically stole large quantities of thorium from the country’s chemical and industrial reserves. Initially, the Allies believed that this stolen thorium was intended for use in the development of atomic bombs, which heightened concern about Germany’s nuclear ambitions.
As it turned out, however, the thorium was primarily used for more mundane purposes—such as manufacturing radioactive consumer products like Doramad Radioactive Toothpaste. This surprising revelation added a strange twist to the wartime scramble for nuclear materials, as German chemists exploited thorium’s properties for commercial products instead of advancing atomic weaponry.
It's important to note that because Germany was in a state of upheaval after the end of WW2, no official health surveys were carried out on the population for many years, it was not until the 1980s that a study was undertaken of the nation's oral health. This of course means that we are unable to assess what, if any, long-term effects of the use of DORAMAD could have been.
The Conclusion
Although there is no confirmed link between Doramad toothpaste and the Somerton Man’s missing teeth, considering the harmful long-term effects of radioactive materials on bone health opens up intriguing possibilities. The presence of thorium in everyday products like toothpaste and the historical theft of thorium by the Germans suggests that exposure to such substances could have had serious health consequences for those using them. The question is, did DORAMAD play a role in the Somerton Man’s mysterious condition? That it could have done is quite possible but it remains an open question.
That's quite a find! I haven't seen or heard of that in TSM case, wasn't there toothpaste in his suitcase? I agree that there is no way you can be certain that the toothpaste was the cause but it has to be a serious starter.
ReplyDeleteYes, it was an accidental find, I was searching for the use of Radium in cosmetics originally when I stumbled across the advert, followed that up and there it was. It's quite story really but will it ever be anything more than that? Maybe and maybe not.
ReplyDeleteAn update on the ongoing research. The first study into the health of the German population was in 1989. It showed a significant difference in the oral health of the population between East and West Germany with those from the East having lost many more teeth than those from the West. Whilst this gives us an indication that there were cases of high tooth loss amongst the German population post war, we don't have sufficient information from the 1940s to confirm that and it is unlikely to be available in the form of a formal study.
ReplyDeleteTrue but the forensics result from the bone people should give us a clue.
ReplyDeleteThe radioactive toothpaste suggestion is most interesting. It could show a link between the man and Germany and from there it wouldn’t be the biggest leap to find a link with fellow German/Austrian Tibor Kaldor. With that in mind the question I have is just what is known of the oral health of the Internees at Hay and Tatura interment Camps?
ReplyDeleteAs far as questions go, yours would have to be amongst the very best I’ve had since we started 11 years ago. I will look further into it but the immediate response is that I know they had an internee who was a dentist and he did offer treatment but it was fairly basic. From memory there were a few records kept but that’s the limit of my current knowledge, so I will dig deeper and thanks for the great question.
ReplyDeleteKeeping the focus on possible causes of tooth loss in the 30s and 40s, we shouldn’t overlook that in the pre war years the tubes containing toothpaste were lead lined. The research says that lead, as you might expect, was very much an in demand commodity so it was not to be found in tubes with copper zinc and cadmium being used and occasionally with some lead. Post war saw a resumption of production of lead lined toothpaste tubes which lasted through until the 1950s. It seems that we have a couple of options being lead toothpaste tubes and thorium toothpaste as possible contributors to th SMs significant tooth loss. The third option of radium still exists, it was known to be used in cosmetics in the w0s and 30s and of course there’s the distressing case of the radium girls that we covered here some years ago,. Where this might lead us to is a connection to the internment camps and the possibility of another link to Tibor Kaldor. In the end of course it will be the inquest and the forensic report that may clear this point up.
ReplyDeleteThe above comment was posted from my iPad which still doesn't recognise me on blogger. One of those anomalies. It is a known issue.
ReplyDeleteFurther research turns up a number of examples of the use of radioactive materials as health cures or energy boosters. Some had been and gone by the 302 but others carried on. One device was known as the
ReplyDelete'Radium ore Revigator', you can read about it here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Radium_ore_Revigator it contained a range of quite dangerous materials and the water that was used in the REVIGATOR flask was found to contain, Arsenic, Lead, Vanadium and Uranium quite a cocktail!
All this does is to tell us that there were several sources of chemicals that 'could' have caused tooth loss. It does not and cannot identify any link between it and the Somerton Man unless and until the forensic examination of the exhumed remains tells us differently.
Here's some interesting information from the good Doctor:
ReplyDelete'I'd be much more concerned about Radium-224 and 228 which are decay products of Thorium-232. Pure thorium is only slightly radioactive but occurs naturally with all members of its decay chain. In crystals of monazite, these decay products are contained, but when thorium ores are processed (like by CSIR) these short halflife decay elements are released and then concentrated into waste. The radium girls issue became much more serious when US Radium switched from uranium to thorium ores in the production of radium. Radium is also a Group 2 element so its biological activity is like calcium. "Radium in Humans" by Rowland 1995 is a great reference.'
There is one other potential source of radioactive materials that might have lead to the loss of teeth in the Somerton Man and that is Operation Crossroads in 1946, the Bikini Atoll A bomb tests. There were two, ABLE and BAKER. Some 40000 US servicemen and women were involved to one extent or another in the preparation and clean up aspects of the exercise. We covered Operation Crossroads in quite some depth in this post:
ReplyDeletehttps://tamamshud.blogspot.com/2020/10/operation-crossroads-another-somerton.html
Over the past week I have been working with Michael Wohltmann, author of Looking back to see the future : a revisionist history of Woomera, 1947-1980. Michael had uncovered a document dating back to 1946, it was the report that Commander Spurgeon, RAN, the Australian Observer at the tests had prepared for the Australian Government. There are some 27 pages in the report which was of very low print quality when found. Using some document recovery techniques, I was able enhance the images of the pages and we now have a document that is readable but sometimes needs a bit of effort. If you would like a copy of the document, it's in PDF format, please contact me with your email address and mobile/cell phone number or Facebook page and I will forward one for you.
WIth regards to Michaels book, you can buy a copy here: http://www.projectfalstaff.com.au/. I bought mine some time ago and have found it to be an excellent resource for the serious researcher.
The Spurgeon document sounds interesting and I will contact you and yes I am a serious researcher :)
ReplyDeleteCouldn’t he possibly worked in a factory that used radium in their paint to use on their watches or other appliances? I saw a documentary that showed workers during that era using the brushes then putting them in their mouth to moisten the brush, and it stated that many of the factory workers lost their teeth, devolved bone cancer, tumors, and other illnesses due to exposure!
ReplyDeleteYes, he could have worked in one of a number of plants that used radium for painting aircraft dials for instance as well as similar pieces of equipment used on submarines and other naval vessels and military watches.The Radium Girls story is horrendous, here's a post from 2022 on the subject:
Deletehttps://tamamshud.blogspot.com/2022/09/somerton-man-mystery-dial-painters.html
I wonder if he had military clearance too? That would explain a lot.
ReplyDeleteAll of this stuff you are posting
ReplyDeletedoesn't get you any closer to who the Somerton man was
It is just diversion
With respect, the main purpose of this blog is not to uncover who the Somerton Man was although it would be good to know. On this point, I agree with Dr. Xanthe Mallet the forensic scientist who has stated that we may never know who he was. The investigation, research and posts here are focused on findin out what he was, why he died and who may have been responsible. If we find out his identity in the process that would be a bonus of course but it is not the focus. Thanks for the comment and I hope this helps clarify the situation.
ReplyDeleteAudio! Listening to the post lifts the meaning, a lot of people will be happy about that. Was it difficult to embed the player? I have friends who tried but never quite got it to work properly something to do with html5?
ReplyDeleteJosh, true, it does make a difference when you can hear the post. The primary reason was to address an issue that affects 20% of the population and that's dyslexia. By adding audio, we are able to address the problem and provide a solution to so many people, it's all about inclusivity and there are more things to be done in that area for this blog.
DeleteRegarding the html5 issue, you're not wrong! Especially when you are not a true 'technician'. Got there in the end with the help of a good friend. Wait until you see what's coming next!
Trialling audio for our posts and I hope you will bear with us in this process. Many Thanks, Gordon
ReplyDeleteAfter a fair bit of wrangling, I have managed to get the audio version in place for this post. You should be able to see the 5 country flags which are the indicators of the languages that can be heard when you select the flag of your choice. The player for your chosen language appears when you select the flag, then just click on the arrow on the player and you will hear the text on the page read out in that language. It's an accessibility issue. The fact is that 20% of the population, more in some countries, are dyslexic and this is one way we can be of help. Within a week all new posts will have the same range of languages included.
ReplyDelete