6 ms·

Remember reading about ancient people foolishly consuming led or kings that went mad from consuming gold? I guess we are those people for microplastics.

RcouF1uZ4gsC 5y ago
> kings that went mad from consuming gold I don’t think I have heard of that. Gold is pretty inert.
- squishy47 5y ago
  I think the common term for gold poisioning is greed.
- dundarious 5y ago
  Not gold, but similar: consuming silver has a long history, continuing right up to this day, in spite of the fact that it just seems to ruin your complexion. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2297471.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2297471.stm
- MisterTea 5y ago
  It's quite possible the gold was alloyed with lead or other toxic/poisonous heavy metals and consumed. Though I have myself not heard of kings ingesting gold directly, though I am sure it has been done for a variety of dubious reasons.
sph 5y ago
I think you mean lead. It was commonly used as a sweetener in Ancient Rome and causes pretty irreversible neural damage. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead(II)_acetate https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead(II)_acetate
- SnowProblem 5y ago
  It's common in many spices we use today, unfortunately. Consumer Reports published tests on this recently, following-up on other studies, and they have a campaign to get the FDA to regulate heavy metals because so few companies test. Fortunately, you can find brands that do independently test on Amazon, and some brands seem better than others (ie. Simply Organic). https://www.consumerreports.org/food-safety/your-herbs-and-spices-might-contain-arsenic-cadmium-and-lead/ https://www.consumerreports.org/food-safety/your-herbs-and-s...
  - slowmovintarget 5y ago
    Worse, there are unacceptable lead levels in the glazing of any dishware coming from China (which is most of it). These are levels considered unsafe for children by FDA standards (which aren't as stringent as EU standards). There are very few safe brands in this regard. One from France and one from Turkey, at least on the US market.
    - lamp_book 5y ago
      Which brands if you don't mind sharing?
      - slowmovintarget 5y ago
        The brand we settled on was Pillivuyt (better quality). You can get Corelware for cheaper that seems to be tested safe, but if you're looking for stuff that's going to last, you want actual porcelain dishware. The other brand that we found was sold by Sur La Table, made in Turkey. We chose porcelain over some other materials (like glass) because it's more durable, and Pillivuyt has been making the stuff for a long time (simple, high quality). You can read up on lead glazing issues on Lead Safe Mama ( https://tamararubin.com/ https://tamararubin.com/ ). You will not find this brand among her recommendations, but my wife went to the trouble to research stated lead levels in glazing processes from a number of manufacturers. There are differences in their lines, as well. The ones you get direct from France, or through Nordstrom are the "good" lines and the William Sonoma lines are cheaper (for Pillivuyt).
        lamp_book 5y ago
        Wow, thank you for the thorough information!
  - elevaet 5y ago
    That's nuts. Why are heavy metals even showing up in these? Are the herbs/spices just picking the metals up from the soil and then they become concentrated because of the drying? Do plants end up concentrating heavy metals in the seeds?
ffhhj 5y ago
Gold is inert, but miners used mercury to extract it.
mgdlbp 5y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldschläger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldschläger

RcouF1uZ4gsC 5y ago

> kings that went mad from consuming gold I don’t think I have heard of that. Gold is pretty inert.

squishy47 5y ago
I think the common term for gold poisioning is greed.
dundarious 5y ago
Not gold, but similar: consuming silver has a long history, continuing right up to this day, in spite of the fact that it just seems to ruin your complexion. http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2297471.stm http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/americas/2297471.stm
MisterTea 5y ago
It's quite possible the gold was alloyed with lead or other toxic/poisonous heavy metals and consumed. Though I have myself not heard of kings ingesting gold directly, though I am sure it has been done for a variety of dubious reasons.

sph 5y ago

I think you mean lead. It was commonly used as a sweetener in Ancient Rome and causes pretty irreversible neural damage. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead(II)_acetate https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead(II)_acetate

SnowProblem 5y ago
It's common in many spices we use today, unfortunately. Consumer Reports published tests on this recently, following-up on other studies, and they have a campaign to get the FDA to regulate heavy metals because so few companies test. Fortunately, you can find brands that do independently test on Amazon, and some brands seem better than others (ie. Simply Organic). https://www.consumerreports.org/food-safety/your-herbs-and-spices-might-contain-arsenic-cadmium-and-lead/ https://www.consumerreports.org/food-safety/your-herbs-and-s...
- slowmovintarget 5y ago
  Worse, there are unacceptable lead levels in the glazing of any dishware coming from China (which is most of it). These are levels considered unsafe for children by FDA standards (which aren't as stringent as EU standards). There are very few safe brands in this regard. One from France and one from Turkey, at least on the US market.
  - lamp_book 5y ago
    Which brands if you don't mind sharing?
    - slowmovintarget 5y ago
      The brand we settled on was Pillivuyt (better quality). You can get Corelware for cheaper that seems to be tested safe, but if you're looking for stuff that's going to last, you want actual porcelain dishware. The other brand that we found was sold by Sur La Table, made in Turkey. We chose porcelain over some other materials (like glass) because it's more durable, and Pillivuyt has been making the stuff for a long time (simple, high quality). You can read up on lead glazing issues on Lead Safe Mama ( https://tamararubin.com/ https://tamararubin.com/ ). You will not find this brand among her recommendations, but my wife went to the trouble to research stated lead levels in glazing processes from a number of manufacturers. There are differences in their lines, as well. The ones you get direct from France, or through Nordstrom are the "good" lines and the William Sonoma lines are cheaper (for Pillivuyt).
      - lamp_book 5y ago
        Wow, thank you for the thorough information!
- elevaet 5y ago
  That's nuts. Why are heavy metals even showing up in these? Are the herbs/spices just picking the metals up from the soil and then they become concentrated because of the drying? Do plants end up concentrating heavy metals in the seeds?

ffhhj 5y ago

Gold is inert, but miners used mercury to extract it.

mgdlbp 5y ago

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldschläger https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldschläger