Louis Jean-Charles-Marie-Tanquerel des Planches (11 August 1810,

Ambrières-les-Vallées Ambrières-les-Vallées () is a commune in the Mayenne department in northwestern France. It is on the border of Normandy. Population Notable people * Louis Tanquerel des Planches (1810–1862), physician and researcher See also *Communes ...

– 27 May 1862) was a French

physician A physician (American English), medical practitioner (Commonwealth English), medical doctor, or simply doctor, is a health professional who practices medicine, which is concerned with promoting, maintaining or restoring health through th ...

. He is known for his research of

lead poisoning Lead poisoning, also known as plumbism and saturnism, is a type of metal poisoning caused by lead in the body. The brain is the most sensitive. Symptoms may include abdominal pain, constipation, headaches, irritability, memory problems, inferti ...

, about which, he is credited with conducting one of the first comprehensive studies of

occupational illness An occupational disease is any chronic ailment that occurs as a result of work or occupational activity. It is an aspect of occupational safety and health. An occupational disease is typically identified when it is shown that it is more prevalen ...

. By way of analysis of 1200 cases of lead poisoning at the

Hôpital de la Charité Hôpital de la Charité (, "Charity Hospital") was a hospital in Paris founded in the 17th century and closed in 1935. History In 1606, Marie de Médicis invited the Brothers Hospitallers of St. John of God to come to France. The Abbot of Sain ...

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

, he reported that the disease was more frequently found in workers who were exposed to lead fumes than those who worked with the solid metal. In his studies he used the term ''encéphalopathie saturnine'' to point out

neuropsychiatric Neuropsychiatry or Organic Psychiatry is a branch of medicine that deals with psychiatry as it relates to neurology, in an effort to understand and attribute behavior to the interaction of neurobiology and social psychology factors. Within neurop ...

indications of lead poisoning.

Associated works

* ''Traité des maladies de plomb ou saturnines : suivi de l'indication des moyens qu'on doit mettre en usage pour se préserver de l'influence délétère des préparations de plomb'' (2 volumes, 1839). * "Lead diseases / a treatise from the French of L. Tanquerel Des Planches ; with notes and additions on the use of lead pipes and its substitutes by Samuel L. Dana Lowell" : Daniel Bixby and Company, 1848.Lead diseases
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References

1810 births 1862 deaths People from Mayenne French agronomists 19th-century French physicians {{France-med-bio-stub