Text 17150, 39 rader
Skriven 2008-11-30 23:51:18 av DAVE SACERDOTE (1:123/140)
     Kommentar till en text av GLEN JAMIESON
Ärende: RECOVERY 285  81130
===========================
GJ> Some people claim that lead water pipes and drinking vessels led to
GJ> the decline and fall of Rome, but if so, why didn't pewter pots used so
GJ> often in 18th and 19th century Europe do the same?  (Or did it?)  Lead
GJ> compounds in paint eaten by children, and wafting through the
GJ> atmosphere from petrol burnt by cars is the modern equivalent.\

Lead easily leaches into water from pure lead pipes, and even from
lead solder used to sweat copper pipes.  I don't understand why 
you would so quickly toss out any suspicions of lead poisoning based
on, of all things, the wine industry.  What the hell Glen, do you
think that the only thing any Roman ever drank was wine?  That they
never ever consumed water, not even from cooking food in it?  Did
the Romans ever use lead vessels for cooking?  For drinking or eating?
Do you know how easy lead leaches into acidic beverages?  Did you
realize that historically, pottery glazes have contained large amounts
of lead which also easily leach into beverages?

I've heard the theory that plumbism may have been a contributing factor
to the decline of Roman civilization, but never that it was a direct
cause.  At any rate, it certainly doesn't seem implausible to me.

PS.  Not all pewter contain[s][ed] lead, BTW.   Better grades of 
pewter have always been made with tin, antimony, and copper.

PPS.  Lead hasn't been a motor vehicle fuel additive for over-the-
road vehicles in almost 30 years.





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