Lead poisoning in history

By 3000 B.C., a separation method from gold and silver was invented and produced as a by-product of silver. The Laureon silver mine, which boasted scale at the time, produced 3,000 ounces of lead per ounce of silver. So 2.1 million tons of lead were produced during the third century (similar to the current world's annual lead production). These lead were used in water pipes, utensils, containers and lids, plates, sieves, cosmetics, external medicines, currency, paints, solder, furniture repair materials, desks, roof materials, tubes, and sculptures, especially those used in cooking and containers for food. At that time, the Romans did not seem to have any knowledge of chronic addiction caused by ingesting trace amounts over the long term. Of course, I already knew that workers in the lead industry had lead poisoning, but this was an occupational disease and thought it had nothing to do with ordinary residents. There are many examples suggesting lead poisoning by Roman citizens. Common constipation, abdominal pain, and anemia occurred, and ancient Romans knew that deterioration of color, emphysema, metal taste in the mouth, black stool, and joint pain all suggest chronic lead poisoning. In fact, Gilpiran stated that when he collected human bones from the Roman Empire and requested lead analysis, he obtained data suggesting lead poisoning of the wealthy class. Lead poisoning in the upper class of Rome mainly occurred through meals. This is because Greek recipes were introduced around B.C. 150, and the old custom of banning women from drinking (wine) gradually collapsed. The main causes of lead poisoning were wine, grape syrup, and stored fruits. In the early days of the republican system, regulations prohibiting women from drinking were created because they vaguely knew that wine had an adverse effect on pregnancy and childbirth. In addition, it can be thought that fat women drink less lead-based wine for some reason, and thin women are weakened by lead poisoning. In addition, dishes cooked with grapes, wine, fruits, and fire, as well as water supply pipes installed so that 1.5 million Roman citizens do not have any inconvenience living, are also made of lead pipes. The relics of the Apia Water Pipe prove this. So, their living environment was exposed to lead poisoning. Also, cosmetics made of lead and paint with lead (The wall color that the rich liked at the time was [Formpay Red] made of lead salt). The back was the cause of lead poisoning among the wealthy. Grape syrup, along with honey, was an important sweetener at the time (sugar was not available until then, and was imported from India at that time), and was also used as a preservative. Lead products or bronze pots embedded with lead were used to reduce grape juice, where lead on the surface of the pot was mixed into syrup because it was boiled while stirring grape juice. The syrup containing lead was mixed with wine to give the wine flavor, and there is a drink called adenamon for people with weak bodies, which is a mixture of lead-containing syrup with seawater, probably boiled down in a lead pot, so the sick took lead-containing food into their mouths. This adenamon used to be a favorite drink for high-quality prostitutes. In addition, syrup was widely used to store fruits such as olives, raisins, apples, peaches, pears, etc. Apicius' cookbook contains numerous recipes using this syrup. The grape juice is fermented to make wine, and at this time, the unfermented grape juice was first put in a container for the purpose of fermenting the wine well. Democritus even stated that it is good to add a small amount of lead when the grape juice becomes sour. It was thought that adding lead could give wine some flavor and that lead killed miscellaneous bacteria or yeast to prevent wine from becoming sour. Lead poisoning in women has caused infertility, miscarriage, stillbirth, and high birth mortality, and it is known that children born have irreversible mental disorders and shorter lifespan. This lead poisoning was sufficient to cause the destruction of the upper class. The medical cause of this decline in reproductive ability cannot be thought of otherwise. STD was never serious at the time.