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Never mind cooking in lead vessels, they used lead acetate as an artificial sweetener in their food. I've often wondered if this was something that contributed

Never mind cooking in lead vessels, they used lead acetate as an artificial sweetener in their food. I've often wondered if this was something that contributed to their downfall.

wil421 9y ago
I'm sure it didn't help Caligula. It seems a lot of crazy acting emperors could be linked to lead poisoning. It makes me think what people 50-100 years will think about our diets. They put sugar in everything!
- tcoppi 9y ago
  More likely to be the huge amount of plasticizers that have been making their way into our diet, imo.
- AnimalMuppet 9y ago
  You know, it would explain a lot of things if, over the last 10 or 20 years, something were slowly driving more and more people crazy...
  - posterboy 9y ago
    The Opium epidemic lead to a freaking trade war [1]. How about crack cocaine and other designer drugs, incl. highly potent cannabis, alcohol and cigarettes as factors? [1]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_Wars https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Opium_Wars
Tharkun 9y ago
What makes it worse is that the Romans knew lead was toxic. But they thought its effect was limited to the production process, which was mostly done by slaves and other people of no apparent value.