Lead poisoning in Ancient Rome - did they know?
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- Опубликовано: 6 сен 2024
- The Romans used lead to make water pipes, bringing fresh water into cities to fill up their bath houses and to drink. They used lead pots to cook in, even saying that fruit syrup tasted better if it was cooked in lead pots as opposed to copper. Everyone knows nowadays that lead is poisonous. People with lead poisoning become anaemic, cognitively impaired, infertile, and can incur serious organ damage. But did the Romans know this? Did they do anything about it? And did lead poisoning cause the collapse of the Roman Empire?
Check out these articles used to research this video:
penelope.uchic....
pubs.acs.org/d...
Music:
Music: Celtic Impulse by Kevin MacLeod.
The pipes would get coated in calcium and lime scale over time covering the lead.
I talk about this in the video!
It explains much of the aggression and violence to be honest. As Nations develop they experience a predictable decrease in violent crime after banning leaded gas.
Wow that is a crazy fact, I've just read up about it. It would be amazing to have the data on Roman violence related to lead poisoning, but alas!
@@TopRomanFacts I think the evidence is all over europe. 🤣 Roman colonialism and American colonialism has to be tolerated by the masses. Put lead in their water or air, and they probably let more slide. It also shaves off lots of IQ points I hear.
A bonus tidbit is that one man brought us leaded gas and CFCs. Remember the Styrofoam that ate a hole in the Ozone layer? Google Thomas Midgley Jr.
@@TopRomanFacts "Thomas Midgley Jr. has been named a “one-man environmental disaster” for two big reasons. He was one of the early pioneers of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) - compounds that became widely used in industry - and which were destroying the ozone layer. He also invented leaded gasoline and insisted that it was safe to use."
Gave himself a stroke trying to pretend like it wasn't that bad.
@@GoldBankker haha
Doesn't explain those things at all.
Amazing video, very professional, and I enjoyed watching every second of it!
Thanks for the comment and kind words!
Lead pipes were common in Europe until last century
Nasty stuff ☣️
U.S. too. Still there in some areas.
@@Rich4098 yep
@@TopRomanFacts my granny lived all her life in a house with lead pipes, she died at 87 for other reasons ....
Apparently, the Romans may have also used Lead Salts, which are sweet, as an artificial sugar.
IOWs- the World's first Nutrasweet !
It's thought that lead acetate, the lead salt you mention, was the reason the fruit syrup was so tasty. I should have mentioned this in the video!
Great video keep up the good work
Thanks, will do!
Yeah, there's no way thar all of them being chemically/mentally poisoned would cause their downfall. The bad decisins made on the battlefield were unrelated.
The Roman lead stare
@@TopRomanFacts I'll look it up. Guessing that I was wrong. :) Sorry for my apparent typos...
@nwoboecane I don't think you're wrong. I agree with you at the end of the video!
@@TopRomanFacts Sorry, I was trying to agree but my style too odd to understand most of the time!
@@nwoboecane no worries!
Great video, however…exposure to lead can lead to various adverse health effects, including infertility. Lead exposure has been linked to decreased fertility issues in both men and women. The Roman boiled down sweetener used in wine and desserts was called “defrutum and used by the upper class as well. So one could speculate that though not directly, but indirectly lead may have caused the downfall of the Roman upper class and empire.
I'm not sure why you commented this because this is literally my argument in the video!
The Romans?? The US still has lead pipes in lots of homes. We decided it was "too expensive" of a problem to fix.
Love that fish sauce ..gorum... not sure of spelling..
Garum. Good stuff. Lots of other cultures use very similar sauces.
It's pretty good! Tastes like a slightly sweeter Thai fish sauce
I imagine they knew but a large political portion of them kept denying the toxic effects of lead while being financially backed by the lead mines.
They were Lead Based.
Haha
Also just like plastic today, it is a valuable material when used for the right things. No material is inherently "evil"
Yeah true. It's only as bad as what we use it for
interesting , love the video !
Glad you enjoyed
⚠⚠⚠use⚠⚠⚠caution⚠⚠⚠
Roman health and safety
We are too lazy to change
Lol
Wouldn't a lead cooking pot melt over the fire?
Yeah pure lead would. I should have made this clear in the video but the lead pots would have been alloyed with copper or iron, or the lead would have lined a bronze or iron pot
@@TopRomanFactsthere are not many lead alloys, none of these would have a suitable meltingpoint, this simply doesn't work.......
@@mobilfone2234 why don't you think it works?
He's probably talking about pewter, although that was usually only used for things like plates or cups
can you please do a video on the type of footwear the roman's were wearing in their time?
Perhaps one day, but it's not really my area of expertise
Mmm lead delicious 😋
I'm crazy for lead
No
Yes, according to Pliny the Elder and Vitruvius