ST. LOUIS – Some 100,000 baby teeth collected for the historic St. Louis Baby Tooth Survey initiated in 1958 but never used are now being analyzed in two new studies.
More than 300,00 baby teeth were collected through a grassroots effort launched by women community leaders. Most were used in the landmark study, which determined the radioactive fallout from nuclear bomb tests in the U.S. during the Cold War with the Soviet Union and how it impacted children’s health.
Glenn Zimmerman, FOX 2 chief meteorologist, donated a tooth to the St. Louis Baby Tooth Survey when he was four years old. His tooth was discovered among the 100,000 found in an ammunition bunker at Washington University’s Tyson Research Center in Eureka.
Zimmerman’s tooth is among others collected for the original baby tooth study, which is now in a new study underway at Harvard University.
Dr. Marc Weisskopf, PhD, ScD, a neuroscientist and epidemiologist at Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health, is testing the level of metals in the baby teeth to determine the impact on health later in life.
“Exposure to metals like lead and other things like that early in life may make you more likely that you have cognitive problems or dementia later in life,” Dr. Weisskopf said.
Executive Director of the Radiation and Public Health Project, Joseph Mangano, says his organization is also using the teeth to answer questions about the health effects of strontium-90. One of those questions asks if there is a match between high levels of strontium-90 in teeth and the risk of developing cancer.
The Missouri Historical Society is now putting some of the baby teeth on display in an exhibit scheduled to open March 2025 so the public can learn more about the St. Louis Baby Tooth Survey, touted as one of the most significant studies of the 20th century.
“It really helped to show that these efforts had not been in vain and this grassroots effort to improve the lives of people around the world was a success,” Hattie Felton, director of curatorial affairs and curator of fine and decorative arts at Missouri Historical Society, said.
If you had a tooth that was donated to the St. Louis Baby Tooth Survey and would like to learn if it’s now in the collection at Harvard, click here to see.
For more information about the baby teeth and the research being conducted by The Radiation and Public Health Project, click here.
