Hacker News new | ask | show | jobs
by giantg2 321 days ago
"Back in school I was often told the lead pipes in Roman aqueducts likely played a key role in the fall of Roman. We know lead is a poison with negative long term effects on cognition."

I highly doubt there was much effect from the pipes. They would quickly be sealed in mineral scale. Cups or utensils - maybe, but would be more about specific important people using them rather than being widespread.
1 comments
MengerSponge 321 days ago
Wine (and grape juice) was cooked in lead vessels, which generates Lead(II) Acetate aka Sugar of Lead. They lead poisoned themselves coming and going.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lead(II)_acetate

link
hinkley 321 days ago
Pre enlightenment Europe also saw cheap wine being sweetened with a lump of lead suspended in wine barrels.

Around the World in Six Glasses will tell you that tea replacing wine lead to Progress in Europe because they weren’t drunk all day but I wonder how much was inebriation and how much was lead exposure.

link
MengerSponge 321 days ago
Smells like a little of column A, a little of column B.

Beer was also widely prevalent, right? Even if it's just small beer (<3%ABV), it's not exactly making you smarter. It's hard to hit the Ballmer peak, after all

link
hinkley 321 days ago
Beer was their water treatment plan. You drank watered down alcohol as a way to avoid waterborne illnesses. Tea is boiling water which we still use to this day to deal with the water supply being contaminated.
link