Feb 20, 2025 10:33 PM
https://www.wsj.com/science/environment/..._permalink
INTRO: Lead pollution in ancient Rome was so high that it dropped the population’s IQ by around 3 points, if not more.
Elites were exposed to lead through water pipes, cooking pots, bath tubs, cosmetics and the syrups that sweetened their wine. But the most widespread exposure for Romans came from industrial pollution caused by the mining and smelting of metals used to make money.
Romans melted down galena, a lead-rich ore, to extract the silver needed for coins, and lead was a major byproduct of the process. “For every ounce of silver you produce, you might produce thousands of ounces of lead,” said Joseph McConnell, a climate and environmental scientist at the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nev. “Nobody could escape it.”
McConnell and his colleagues estimated the Romans’ lead exposure and reported the drop in IQ that epidemiologists have associated with that level of exposure.
[...] The findings, published last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, revealed that lead pollution peaked during a prosperous period known as the Pax Romana, when ancient Rome spanned portions of the Middle East, Europe and North Africa.
The researchers’ models showed 3,300 tons to 4,600 tons of lead were emitted annually at the time, suggesting that ancient Romans had lead levels between 2 micrograms and 5 micrograms per deciliter of blood. Other research links that amount to a decline of around 3 IQ points... (MORE - missing details
ALTERNATIVE LINK: https://www.msn.com/en-us/society-cultur...r-AA1znqbN
INTRO: Lead pollution in ancient Rome was so high that it dropped the population’s IQ by around 3 points, if not more.
Elites were exposed to lead through water pipes, cooking pots, bath tubs, cosmetics and the syrups that sweetened their wine. But the most widespread exposure for Romans came from industrial pollution caused by the mining and smelting of metals used to make money.
Romans melted down galena, a lead-rich ore, to extract the silver needed for coins, and lead was a major byproduct of the process. “For every ounce of silver you produce, you might produce thousands of ounces of lead,” said Joseph McConnell, a climate and environmental scientist at the Desert Research Institute in Reno, Nev. “Nobody could escape it.”
McConnell and his colleagues estimated the Romans’ lead exposure and reported the drop in IQ that epidemiologists have associated with that level of exposure.
[...] The findings, published last month in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, revealed that lead pollution peaked during a prosperous period known as the Pax Romana, when ancient Rome spanned portions of the Middle East, Europe and North Africa.
The researchers’ models showed 3,300 tons to 4,600 tons of lead were emitted annually at the time, suggesting that ancient Romans had lead levels between 2 micrograms and 5 micrograms per deciliter of blood. Other research links that amount to a decline of around 3 IQ points... (MORE - missing details
ALTERNATIVE LINK: https://www.msn.com/en-us/society-cultur...r-AA1znqbN