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.
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