According to new study, the average person’s IQ was probably reduced by 2.5 to 3 points in ancient Rome due to the widespread presence of hazardous lead in the air.
The study, which was released on Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences publication, raises long-standing concerns about whether or not lead contamination contributed to the fall of the empire.
After connecting lead discovered in Greenland ice samples to ancient Roman silver smelters, the scientists concluded that a large portion of Europe would have been impacted by the astounding quantity of background pollution they generated.
The amount of lead that most likely entered the bloodstreams of Romans and the impact it would have had on their cognitive abilities were ascertained by the researchers using studies on lead exposure in contemporary civilization.
Even now, lead, a potent neurotoxin, poses a threat to public health. Your body cannot contain any quantity of it safely. Among other consequences, exposure is linked to mental health disorders, learning impairments, reproductive concerns, and an increased chance of hearing loss.
The new study’s findings, according to its experts, are the first definite illustration of pervasive industrial contamination in recorded history.
Lead author Joe McConnell, a climate and environmental scientist at the Desert Research Institute, a nonprofit research campus in Reno, Nevada, stated that “human or industrial activities were already having continental-scale impacts on human health 2,000 years ago.” “The earliest clear-cut example of human impacts on the environment is lead pollution during the Roman era.”
The Greenland ice sheet concealed the tale of the old pollution.
Important hints regarding the nature of previous habitats may be gleaned from the chemical makeup of the ice there and in other polar locations. The molecules trapped within provide a sort of history as snow falls, melts, and compresses to produce layers of ice.
“Year after year of environmental history, you built up this layer cake,” McConnell remarked.
Scientists may quantify characteristics like atmospheric carbon dioxide in previous climates or, in this example, lead concentrations across time by drilling, retrieving, and analyzing large cylinders of ice.’
After examining three ice cores, the researchers discovered that variations in lead concentrations over a millennium or so correlated with significant moments in Rome’s economic history.
For instance, when Rome established authority over modern-day Spain and increased silver output in the area, the level climbed.
According to McConnell, “you might produce 10,000 ounces of lead for every ounce of silver you might produce.” “The Romans were mining and smelting silver for their coinage and economy, and they were releasing a lot of lead into the atmosphere while you’re producing silver.”
According to McConnell, lead would cling to dust particles in the air throughout the smelting process. A little portion of the particles were deposited on Greenland after being blown.
After calculating the concentration of lead in Greenland’s ice, the researchers utilized climate modeling tools to calculate the amount of lead that the Romans must have been releasing into the atmosphere in order to poison Greenland to the level that was seen.
The researchers then examined current data on lead exposure to ascertain the health impacts of atmospheric lead during the Pax Romana, an era of calm in the empire that lasted from 27 BCE to 180 AD.
The average lead exposure, according to the researchers, was around one-third of what it was in the US prior to the Clean Air Act and during the height of leaded gasoline consumption in the late 1970s. According to McConnell, Roman children were exposed to almost twice as much lead as children in the United States today.
The researchers hypothesize that the people in Iberia (present-day Spain) who lived closest to silver mines would have had the highest levels of lead in their blood. “Almost no one got away,” McConnell remarked.
However, because Romans were exposed to lead through other sources, such as lead drinking goblets, lead plumbing, and wine sweetened in lead-lined jars, the results probably do not fully reflect the extent of lead’s negative health effects in ancient Rome.
Dr. Bruce Lanphear, a lead specialist and health sciences professor at Simon Fraser University in Canada, who was not involved in the study, claimed that lead “was everywhere” in ancient Rome. He stated that the authors realize that the current research is restricted because it solely evaluates atmospheric lead.
According to Lanphear, “their estimates are likely to be an underestimate.”
Nevertheless, the study provides evidence that exposure may have contributed to the fall of ancient Rome, which might rekindle continuing discussions about the impact of lead.
For many years, historians and medical professionals have argued about whether and to what extent lead had a role in the demise of the empire. In the 1980s, researchers hypothesized that Rome’s aristocrats’ excessive consumption of lead-laced wine was the reason of their gout and unpredictable behavior.
Although it was only one cause, I firmly believe that lead had a role in the fall of the Roman Empire. One item is never enough, Lanphear stated.
The majority of historians believe that Rome collapsed for a variety of causes, such as plagues, economic issues, and climatic changes, according to Joe Manning, a history professor at Yale University. According to Manning, it’s critical to keep in mind that life expectancy in ancient Rome was just 25 to 30 years, making it a difficult place to survive.
“Under no circumstances would you want to enter an ancient city.” You wouldn’t want to go there at all. They’re filthy, sick, and ill all over,” Manning remarked. “The lead is on top of incredibly unhygienic conditions.”
