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Things like this always reminds me of the way the Romans poisoned themselves with lead pipes for centuries. What modern equivalents to this do we have? Soap?
by herbig 13y ago
Things like this always reminds me of the way the Romans poisoned themselves with lead pipes for centuries. What modern equivalents to this do we have? Soap? Cell phones? Sitting? Who knows. There have to be plenty of things in the modern world that we aren't yet fully aware are killing us over time.
Having said that, now that I've Googled the Roman lead pipe fact I learned in High School I have found that to be in question as well, so really I don't know what to trust ever.
I guess the point I'm trying to make is question everything.
- ewoodrich 13y agoAugustus died in AD 14 at the age of 75, and Vespasian died in AD 79 at the age of 69, and these were just emperors whose longevity I happened to recall. Neither were considered to have many (any?) symptoms of lead poisoning either, so I am somewhat skeptical of widespread significant health effects from their use of lead pipes.
- joe5150 13y agoI don't know the data there either but considering just three people who led rather exceptional lives among millions of others isn't a great way to draw a conclusion
- derekp7 13y agoApparently the calcium deposits in the water did a good enough job coating the lead that it ended up not causing much of an issue (from what I recall on History channel). Also, wouldn't the Romans have developed a resistance to lead poisoning after enough generations?
- mmagin 13y agoIt's been suggested that the sweetening of acidic wine using lead vessels was a far greater toxicity risk: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead(II)_acetate#Sweetener https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead(II)_acetate#Sweetener