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www.pnas.org

The detrimental effects of modern lead exposure on human health are widely recognized. Evidence from the Roman era indicates substantial lead exposure that potentially impacted human health more than 2,000 y ago. The most significant exposure for the rural, nonelite population may have been to background air pollution from silver mining and smelting that underpinned the Roman economy. Using detailed records of Roman-era lead pollution measured in Arctic ice cores and atmospheric modeling, we show that lead emissions from these activities elevated air concentrations throughout Europe. Based on modern epidemiological studies, this air pollution enhanced childhood blood lead levels (BLLs) by about 2.4 µg/dl leading to widespread cognitive decline including an estimated 2.5-to-3 point reduction in intelligence quotient.

  • CyborgMarx [any, any]@hexbear.netEnglish
    15·
    2 天前

    Yes

    No amount of lead exposure is safe, even the smallest contamination is disastrous for cognitive health

    There’s an unfortunate disconnect between ecological historians and health scientists concerning the subject of lead specifically: the historians have come to conclusion that yes there was exposure in ancient times, but it wasn’t “that high” (according to a very 1970s understanding of “acceptable” lead exposure) while over the last 15 years health scientists have shown there is no such thing as acceptable lead exposure, it is one of the most potent neurotoxins known to humankind and it is insidious in how in even small amounts it continually destroys the brain

    Interdisciplinary collaboration is so goddamn important, but the scourge of hyperspecialization in modern scientific practice has left entire fields with enormous blind spots

  • Belly_Beanis [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    12·
    2 天前

    Rome collapsed due to the contradictions of its slave economy. In order to pay its soldiers, Rome promised them land and slaves. In order to acquire those, Rome had to conqueror more territory, which required more soldiers, who were paid with land and slaves, so Rome had to conqueror more territory…etc. etc. repeat over and over.

    Eventually they resorted to the use of mercenaries. Multiple assassinations of high ranking leaders caused civil wars, instability, etc. This made them vulnerable to invasion, which is exactly what happened and the Visigoths sacked Rome. They moved the capital and continued for several hundred years, but had declined to a fraction of what they once were.

    • Saeculum [he/him, comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
      2·
      1 天前

      There was also a huge plague that killed a quarter of the population and a mini-ice age which decreased agricultural yields enormously and forced migration from the Eurasian steppe.

      I’d make a case for environmental factors being the biggest cause of collapse rather than economic contradictions.

  • darkmode [comrade/them]@hexbear.netEnglish
    12·
    2 天前

    this air pollution enhanced childhood blood lead levels (BLLs) by about 2.4 µg/dl leading to widespread cognitive decline including an estimated 2.5-to-3 point reduction in intelligence quotient

    Should immediately discard anything that tries to reinforce its argument with IQ imo

    • eldavi@lemmy.mlEnglish
      2·
      2 天前

      i like it; it’s like that other study saying the same thing about leaded gas during the 50’s. lol

  • CrawlMarks [he/him]@hexbear.netEnglish
    11·
    2 天前

    Liberals try and fail to create historical materialism yet again. It is wild to me that intelligent well read people are still shocked that things happen for reasons

  • infuziSporg [e/em/eir]@hexbear.netEnglish
    11·
    2 天前

    Tell me you made tangential extrapolations without telling me you made tangential extrapolations.

    including an estimated 2.5-to-3 point reduction in intelligence quotient.

    Ah. Perfection.

  • Voidance [none/use name]@hexbear.netEnglish
    9·
    2 天前

    It did not. People in the 70s had much higher lead exposures and a society that was both more complex and more precarious, and it didn’t collapse. And actually Rome didn’t collapse in the time period of especially high exposure either, it went on for several hundred years afterwards

    • crime [she/her, any]@hexbear.netEnglish
      8·
      2 天前

      It didn’t collapse yet bloomer

      I think we’re around the peak point where the gerontocrats in charge have had close to the most possible lifetime lead exposure from TEL gasoline, including throughout their developmental years. (It was first added to gasoline in 1924, but gasoline consumption increased substantially over the 1924-1970s period before TEL started getting phased out, and in particular was used heavily in fuel for WWII aircraft when our main ghouls were being born.)

      That said yeah hard to conclusively say whether or not it did, but it certainly couldn’t have helped.